T32 Training Grant in Cardiac Surgery

Through funding provided by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the U-M Department of Cardiac Surgery offers a specialized training grant program to prepare the next generation of surgeon-scientists to tackle the most pressing questions in adult and pediatric cardiovascular diseases. The T32 training grant program provides funded, structured and mentored time for aspiring scientists to focus on inquiry into some of the most important and timely issues in the field. Participants in the program will engage in cutting-edge research projects, develop critical academic and leadership skills and contribute to the growing body of knowledge in cardiac surgery. With guidance from distinguished faculty and access to state-of-the-art facilities, our trainees are well-equipped to make meaningful contributions to both academia and clinical practice.

The program is designed to support research education for cardiac, thoracic, or general surgery residents and offers laboratory and clinical/health services research training in pediatric or cardiac surgery. Our distinguished and extramurally funded preceptors’ laboratories span the full translational continuum from basic mechanistic work through preclinical and clinical/health services research. Mentored research experiences will be complemented by appropriate formal education. Our core program provides trainees with rigorous scientific and biostatical training and expanded knowledge beyond their oftentimes narrow research focus to ensure successful academic career progression. Laboratory-based research training follows a project-oriented approach with careful mentoring by trainee preceptors.

This training program is embedded within the rich academic environment of the University of Michigan, including a highly collegial and interdisciplinary cardiovascular research community, excellent core resources for biomedical research and strong resources for clinical and health services research. The latter includes a very strong School of Public Health, Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program and Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI), which is the largest academic health services research program in the country.

Individual mentors are responsible for guiding their trainees in generating research proposals, supervising work and evaluating performance. Each trainee will receive additional mentoring from a discipline-specific committee, with general oversight provided by the steering committee. Prior trainees by mentors involved in this program have been extremely successful in proceeding to productive academic careers in basic science research and clinical/health services research.