Translational Training in Respiratory Disease and Repair

PROJECT SUMMARY Our Translational Training in Respiratory Disease and Repair T32 seeks to train the next generation of basic, translational and clinician scientists capable of working together to advance respiratory medicine toward approaches that fully restore respiratory function in the setting of disease and dysfunction. We request support for 5 postdoctoral trainees who will be mentored by an interdisciplinary and highly collaborative faculty of 26 individuals spanning basic (Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) and clinical (Anesthesiology, Pulmonary Medicine, Allergy, Cardiology, Surgery, Radiology) departments and divisions within the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. Research and training conducted under this program will span basic to clinical aspects of respiratory biology, physiology, and medicine. The basic research thrust will train mentees to identify novel targets and approaches to defend, repair and regenerate respiratory function in the setting of disease and dysfunction. A translational thrust focused on technology development and therapeutic approaches will prepare trainees to generate novel tools and techniques needed to break through current barriers limiting our understanding of, and capacity to reverse, acute and chronic respiratory conditions. The clinical research thrust will bridge behavioral, clinical and translational studies and will focus trainees on the unmet needs of patients while providing them with rich access to clinical data and biospecimens. It will also allow trainees to experience and/or participate firsthand in implementation of novel findings (technological or therapeutic) into clinical practice. Cross-cutting themes interwoven with these programs will include Respiratory Biology Across the Lifespan spanning neonatal diseases and lung development to aging-related disease and functional decline, and Human Disease Modeling which will develop novel approaches to study living human cells and tissues as essential tools for bridging bench to bedside. The resulting T32 program will combine exceptional physical resources, a rich and collaborative intellectual environment, and an interdisciplinary and translational emphasis to train the next generation of scientists and clinicians to tackle the most challenging unmet needs in respiratory disease and repair.