Training in Trauma, Inflammation, Sepsis and Critical Care

Ut Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas TX

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This competitive renewal application seeks to support a research training program in injury, inflammation and critical care at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern). The proposal is designed to extend the work of the existing NIH funded program which has been funded for the last fourteen years. The primary goal of this program is to train bench and physician-scientists who will investigate key questions in the biology and pathophysiology of injury and inflammation and translate this knowledge into advances in the management of critically - ill patients. The object of this basic research effort in trauma, sepsis, and inflammation is to develop new and novel therapeutic interventions to improve the care of the injured patient. The application seeks to continue the support of three postdoctoral trainees (MD, MD/PhD, or PhD) per year for two years each, with an emphasis on physician scientists. The potential levels of investigation pursued are broad and may be conducted anywhere across the spectrum of very basic to patient-oriented research, but the training will be rigorous, structured, and directly applicable to inflammatory disease. Although the final common pathway is characterized by multi-organ failure, the inputs are variable. Injury remains an important health issue in the United States, and the presence of a major burn - trauma and critical care center at Parkland Hospital has allowed great synergy between the basic science aspects of this training grant and the clinical research in injury. In the upcoming years, our trainees will be exposed to a broader spectrum of clinical and translational science as a result of new clinical trials in injury in our facility, including the GLUE grant, Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC) as well as multiple new critical care trials developing as a consequence of new leadership in the intensive care unit at Parkland Memorial Hospital. For these reasons, we propose to expand the didactic experience to include clinical research courses taught by the recently created Department of Clinical Sciences. We continue to aggressively recruit both MDs and PhDs to produce basic scientists who are familiar with translational research and to provide a cadre of PhDs who will assume faculty positions within the surgery and pediatric critical care departments at UT Southwestern. In fact, we have hired two of the three fellows in this program during the last funding period as faculty members in the Department of Surgery. The inclusion of a broad range of physician scientists from UT Southwestern as well as the Howard Hughes Institute on the UT Southwestern campus provide a vast number of nationally and internationally recognized scientists to serve as scientific mentors. These changes significantly strengthen our objectives. Thus, the major focus of our program continues to be the development of enthusiasm for basic science among trainees, to provide trainees with the latest technical advances available in basic science research, to develop close collaborative research efforts between basic scientists and clinicians, and ultimately to develop new therapeutic strategies for application in the clinical arena. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This training grant will provide young investigators with mentored research training who will investigate key questions in the biology and pathophysiology of injury and inflammation and translate this knowledge into advances in the management of critically ill and injured patients.