Training Tracks

The Multidisciplinary Training Program in Cardiovascular Epidemiology has the goal of ensuring that a diverse and highly trained workforce is available to assume leadership roles related to Cardiovascular Epidemiology.

Through excellent research and career mentoring, and professional development opportunities, the program strives to develop postdoctoral researchers’ skills and knowledge in order to conduct multidisciplinary research. Scholars focus their 2-year training on the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease such as coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure and other forms of vascular disease, following one of the training tracks: Statistical genetics and genomics, Computational biology and bioinformatics, or Clinical translational research. All three training tracks emphasize:

(1) a ‘team science’ approach linked to the scholars and their research projects

(2) excellence in mentoring via mentoring teams and skill development

(3) support career transition at the end of the program.

Statistical Genetics and Genomics

Statistical genetics and genomics are specialty areas within the field of Biostatistics that are rapidly growing and require extensive knowledge of genetics, of the software used to assess the variability of genes and their expression in humans, and of sophisticated statistical approaches used to study gene data. Scholars interested in following this track will have the opportunity to work with faculty who are experts in the field of Statistical Genetics and have extensive research experience in cardiovascular epidemiology. They will be mentored to conduct research to elucidate associations between genetic information and various forms of cardiovascular disease while being exposed to cutting edge technology widely used in this field.

Computational Biology and Bioinformatics

The goal of this training track is to provide scholars with the background theory and biological application of information sciences (including computer science, statistics, mathematics and others) to answer biomedical research questions. This track focuses on the use of multi-scale and large-scale data to address unresolved questions in the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease.

Clinical Translational Research

The field of clinical translational research in cardiovascular epidemiology focuses on studying the relations between multiple risk factors and different forms of cardiovascular disease in large populations. Those interested in following this track will have the opportunity to work with physicians and faculty members who have extensive experience on a wide range of research questions spanning the entire spectrum of cardiovascular epidemiology. Training in this track includes learning modules related to the specific disease of interest as well as exposure to epidemiological methods used to perform statistical analysis.