Fellowship Training Grants

Developmental Cardiology and Pulmonary

Contact: Robert Mecham, M.D.

This training program is designed to attract and train both predoctoral and postdoctoral investigators in basic investigation of cardiovascular and pulmonary biology. The program has been extremely successful at introducing both Ph.D. and M.D. trainees to state-of-the-art molecular and cellular techniques to define the molecular basis of inherited and congenital human cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. For example, during the past funding period our trainees played a significant role in identifying the molecular basis of Wilson disease, supravalvular aortic stenosis, Marfan syndrome, and SCHAD-1 deficiency. This work is performed within the context of a strong mentoring program designed to promote the investigative careers of both our clinical and basic science trainees. The objectives are: (1) to provide an extended period of full-time, protected investigative training in a clinical setting or bench laboratory with an accomplished scientific mentor, (2) to correlate basic developmental biology and physiology with clinically relevant cardiovascular and pulmonary defects, (3) to provide financial support and facilities for laboratory investigation, and (4) to guide the trainees’ development so that after completion of training successful competition for independent funding is likely.