Funding to start Program Focused on Next Generation of Academicians and Researchers
October 2, 2008
(Providence) -- The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has awarded a grant to fund the Cardiopulmonary Research Training Program. This program is co-directed by Gideon Koren, MD, director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at Rhode Island Hospital and professor of medicine at The Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University and Sharon Rounds, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the medical service at the Providence VA Medical Center. The NHLBI grant funds research training for between four and eight MD and/or PhD post-doctoral fellows each year, for the next five years. The grant totals $2,414,423 for those years.
The Cardiopulmonary Research Training Program trains physicians and scientists in basic science and its application to the understanding of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases and the outcomes of prevention and treatment of these diseases. Trainees will participate in one of three tracks: cardiovascular molecular pathobiology; pulmonary molecular pathobiology; or cardiopulmonary health services and outcomes research. The fellowship program will include: classroom sessions at Brown; intensive mentored research experience; and career development training, including presentation skills and grant/manuscript preparation.
Dr. Koren, of the Cardiovascular Research Center and Department of Medicine said, "This grant is the first for our center and the Division of Cardiology to focus on training the next generation of physician-scientists. It differs from most fellowship programs that focus on training clinicians to directly care for patients. Through this grant, we will position ourselves to become a premier training center in the country. "
Dr. Rounds, of the Brown Pulmonary/Critical Care Division, continued, "Because cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., we need more researchers who can work to find the cures for these diseases. We also must train professors who will teach tomorrow's medical students in this world of evolving technology. Having that link between clinic, classroom and lab is crucial."
The Cardiopulmonary Research Training Program is supported by Rhode Island Hospital, a Lifespan partner, and is based at the Coro Center, One Hoppin Street in Providence. There are program has 40 faculty trainers from Rhode Island Hospital, The Miriam Hospital, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, the Providence VA Medical Center, Women and Infants Hospital and Brown University. The program is multidisciplinary, with faculty from 11 academic departments at Brown, ranging from engineering and computational biology to family medicine and community health.
The Cardiopulmonary Research Training Program is now recruiting appropriate trainees. Interested potential applicants are encouraged to contact MaryAnn Machado at mmachado@lifespan.org or visit their website: http://www.brownmedicine.org/cardiopulmonary.
Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute plans, conducts, and supports research related to the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart, blood vessel, lung, and blood diseases; and sleep disorders. The Institute also administers national health education campaigns on women and heart disease, healthy weight for children, and other topics. More information can be found at www.nhlbi.nih.gov.
Founded in 1863, Rhode Island Hospital is a private, not-for-profit hospital and is the largest teaching hospital of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. A major trauma center for southeastern New England, the hospital is dedicated to being on the cutting edge of medicine and research. Rhode Island Hospital ranks among the country's leading independent hospitals that receive funding from the National Institutes of Health, with research awards of nearly $27 million annually. Many of its physicians are recognized as leaders in their respective fields of cancer, cardiology, diabetes, emergency medicine and trauma, neuroscience, orthopedics and surgery. The hospital's pediatrics division, Hasbro Children's Hospital, has pioneered numerous procedures and offers the state's only pediatric emergency department and center for pediatric imaging. Rhode Island Hospital is a founding member of the Lifespan health system.
The Cardiovascular Research Center (CVRC) at the Department of Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital and the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University was founded in 2005 and is home to more than 30 scientists, physician-scientists, and graduate and undergraduate students dedicated to basic cardiovascular research.
The Providence VA Medical Center, part of the Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system, is the site of the Vascular Research Laboratory and the Center for Systems, Outcomes & Quality in Chronic Disease & Rehabilitation (SOQCR), and hosts 9 faculty trainers in the Cardiopulmonary Research Training Program.
