Mayo Clinic Research Education Program in Computational Autonomic Neurobiology of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Project Summary / Abstract Modern biomedical science and medicine, with large varied and complex datasets, requires a paradigm shift in our educational models to train the next generation of scientists and physicians capable of performing and interpreting computational analyses. Current educational models have created a critical gap of expertise between computational data scientists and disease-oriented physiologists. The Specific Aim of this proposal is to establish an innovative educational model to promote the training of computational skills for immediate and direct application to research experiences and create the next generation of biomedical scientists to lead new discoveries in diabetes, digestive and kidney disease-oriented research. The Mayo Clinic Research Education Program in Computational Autonomic Neurobiology is a unique new program designed to ensure foundational understanding of both computational science and disease-oriented physiology, prior to learning practical skills in computational methods that are directly applied to data from mentored research experiences. Participants in the program, including graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, biomedical engineers, medical residents, and clinical fellows, are recruited widely from existing educational, training and research programs via the international reputations and productivity of the highly invested participating faculty. The program leverages institutional resources for program administration and robust program evaluation to remain adaptive and responsive to the needs of participants. The short-term objectives of the program are to: 1) provide foundational knowledge in physiology and computational science; 2) provide practical skill in the use creation and dissemination of computational workflows; and 3) provide a research environment to enrich skill honing and productivity. The long-term objectives of the program are to: 4) expand the use and access of computational analyses to impact diabetes, digestive and kidney disease-oriented research; and 5) attract and retain diverse scientists that impact the fields of diabetes, digestive and kidney disease- oriented research. By completing the program, we anticipate these scientists will form a bridge between the often distant physiological and computational approaches to understand human health and form a generation of diverse scientists that impact the fields of diabetes, digestive and kidney diseases.