Training Programs
Post-Doctoral Training in the Vascular Medicine Institute
The Vascular Medicine Institute at the University of Pittsburgh is a rich environment for postdoctoral training. The institute consists of over 20 laboratories run by independent investigators with experience and enthusiasm for training postdoctoral fellows. Beyond individualized mentorship by top-notch basic and translational researchers, the institute offers mentorship in career development grant writing, presentation skills and provides opportunities for collaboration and networking with researcher within and outside the University.
Related Training Programs:
Specialty Clinical Fellowship Training
Residency Training
Graduate Student Training
Undergraduate Training
Dr. Roger Alvarez, recent graduate of the PACCM Fellowship Training Program, presents his research at PH Research Day 2015
T32 Training Programs
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine supports a two- to three-year postdoctoral program titled “Training in Translational Research and Entrepreneurship in Pulmonary Vascular Biology,” funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The Program is intended for M.D. and Ph.D. fellows from fields of pulmonary and cardiovascular science. The Program features initial development of a ‘translational research tool set,’ individually-prescribed development plan, paired mentorship teams of basic and clinical researchers, emphasis on high impact publications, and preparation of a career development award (K-series or equivalent). Trainees may also participate in the Biomedical Entrepreneurship Track program, a collaborative effort between the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon Univerity and the Institute for Clinical Research Education.
The Translational Training Program in Pulmonary Biology and Medicine focuses on an ethos of translational bench-to-bedside research. Our training plan has been invigorated by establishing a four year Bench-to-Bedside Translational Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine Fellowship; pairing basic lung biology and pulmonary medicine mentors to form translational research training units; a three day off-campus fellows Research Career Retreat; month-long exposures to regulatory activities at the NIH, FDA, and Industry; a monthly grant writing workshop; and a formalized K-to-R transition program. Our training plan is structured around Individualized Development Plans that emphasize quantifiable outcomes based on submission and presentation of abstracts, publication of original peer-reviewed research, pursuit of career development awards, completion of didactic courses, and graduation from Masters/Ph.D. programs. We have a multidisciplinary training faculty throughout the Departments of Pediatrics, Pathology, Cell Biology and Molecular Physiology, Immunology, Critical Care Medicine, and Divisions of Renal-Electrolyte, Infectious Disease, Gastroenterology, and General Medicine, as well as the Departments of Epidemiology and Environmental and Occupational Health at the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh.
Imaging in the biomedical sciences – from the individual molecule to the entire body – is a critical component of research which drives some of the most important discoveries of our time. The development of imaging technologies by scientists should be informed by a knowledge of the important targets around which to develop an imaging strategy (i.e. knowledge of disease pathogenesis), and conversely, biomedical scientists should be fluent in the broad range of imaging platforms available to optimally design their studies – a reciprocal relationship that will foster the kind of scientific discovery that can be translated to the bedside. This Program aims to train post-doctoral fellows to acquire core competency in imaging technologies across a broad spectrum, to achieve fundamental proficiency in tools for translational research spanning basic to clinical investigation, and to use these tools to pursue hypothesis-driven research, with a focus on cardiovascular medicine.