Multidisciplinary T32 Training Program in Cardiovascular Epidemiology

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  • PI and Program Director meet with a postdoctoral scholar to discuss her in-progress research projects

  • Postdocs discuss the progress of their work and the T32 training program with PI and Program Director

  • Scholars meet with PI and Program Director during T32 Training Program orientation

  • Newly appointed scholars meet with existing postdocs during monthly T32 luncheon with PI and Program Director

  • Representatives from BU Professional Development and Postdoctoral Affairs (PDPA), BU Clinical Translational Science Institute (CTSI), and Career Development coach from the BU Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) program during T32 Program orientation

This training program provides postdoctoral scholars, with an M.D. or Ph.D., strong multidisciplinary training enabling them to pursue scientific careers in cardiovascular science. Scholars accepted into the program commit two years to the program, which contains the following key elements:

  • A planned and mentored research project under the direction of an established NIH-funded investigator;
  • Development of grant writing skills;
  • Quarterly presentation at a “Work-in-Progress” seminar series attended by the faculty and staff;
  • Assessment of scholar progress both by the mentor (ongoing) and by senior committee members during their annual presentation;
  • Development of paper writing skills to emphasize the key requirements to ready publications for high-impact journals;
  • Journal club that encompasses basic, translational, and clinical articles;
  • Cardiovascular Epidemiology curriculum designed to provide fundamental understanding of cardiovascular epidemiology;
  • A mentorship program that fosters career development.

The training program is based in the Section of Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology in the Department of Medicine at the Boston University Medical Campus and is made up of multidisciplinary faculty from the Departments of Medicine, Cardiology, Biostatistics, and Bioinformatics. Research areas represented by the faculty include CVD risk factors, obesity, subclinical atherosclerosis, inflammation, vascular biology, hypertension, genetics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, functional genomics, and stem cell biology. Postdoctoral scholars complete the program equipped with the necessary tools to ask relevant questions, conduct original research, and secure independent funding.