Cardiovascular Research and Drug Development (CRDD) training program

PROJECT SUMMARY The mission of the ‘Cardiovascular Research and Drug Development’ (CRDD) training program at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is to train predoctoral (PhD and MD/PhD) students by integrating them into the forefront of a highly interactive and cross-disciplinary research community in the world’s largest medical center. Our goal is to

train a diverse group of future scientists and physician-scientists focused on increasing the basic understanding of cardiovascular disease and on discovering and developing new treatments modalities for affected patients. Predoctoral trainees will be selected from among 7 graduate (PhD) programs at BCM. Moreover,

prospective PhD students will be recruited from several postbaccalaureate programs at BCM and allied HBCUs, two avenues proven to increase the number of applicants from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. The CRDD program consists of formal didactic courses, responsible conduct of research courses, grant writing

courses, and intense personalized mentoring. Trainees also participate in mentored journal clubs, attend biweekly seminars, and present at an annual symposium. All mentors and mentees are required to take National Research Mentor Network (NRMN) courses. Program leadership will train junior faculty to become future

preceptors in the program. The rich training environment includes facilities and programs provided by the Cardiovascular Research Institute and the Center for Drug Discovery at BCM. Other unique aspects of our program include a Therapeutics Module comprised of a journal club, student focused presentations, and fireside

discussions with leaders from the biotech/pharma industry. This will expose students to the nuances of modern cardiovascular therapeutic development. Finally, our program will foster internship opportunities at local biotech companies for students to directly observe and participate in aspects of therapeutic development.

The 21 CRDD mentors (basic scientists and physician-scientist) have a diverse scientific background and a strong track record of success in trainee productivity and career outcomes. The predoctoral trainees who trained in their laboratories during the past 10-years collectively published 381 papers, including many in high

impact journals. Of the TGE predoctoral trainees who completed their Ph.D. degree, 97% had a minimum of one first-author published paper with an average of 2.5 first author (range 0-10) and an average of 5.5 total publications (range, 1-22). During the past 5-years alone, our preceptors mentored a total of 39 predoctoral

training grant eligible (TGE) trainees; 28% of those are from underrepresented groups. Of the TGE predoctoral trainees who completed their training, 95% have remained in research-intensive or research-related fields, and 48% remain affiliated with academic medical centers. Notably, 3 recent (