HEPATOLOGY RESEARCH

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A. Purpose and Program Characteristics: The goal of this Research Training Program is to provide training in investigative hepatology to candidates interested in academic careers. The program is for a minimum of two years and stresses pathobiology of liver disease. All research and clinical training activities are interdisciplinary and involve established investigators in the Departments of Medicine, Molecular Pharmacology, Biophysics, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Neurosciences, and Anatomy and Structural Biology who share common research goals but whose conceptual and methodologic approaches differ greatly. Integration of this Training Program with research and educational activities of the Einstein Liver Research Center remains of paramount importance. There are 37 major investigators in the Liver Research Center and they encompass a wide diversity in backgrounds, areas of expertise, interests and specific research projects. All preceptors in the training program are Liver Research Center investigators. The educational and collaborative programs of the Liver Research Center provide an ongoing structure for training future academicians in pathobiology of liver disease. Trainees have abundant opportunity to learn from outstanding authorities in their fields. Furthermore, basic scientists share disease-related interests and actively participate in the scientific activities of the Liver Research Center. The research training program includes the following five components: (a) scheduled weekly seminars, conferences and discussions;(b) specific course work in the Sue Golding Graduate School;(c) interdisciplinary collaborations with basic scientists;(d) attendance in ongoing activities of basic science and clinical departments at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and (e) specific sponsorship and training under the supervision of one or more experienced research scientists. B. Trainees Requirements for acceptance into this Training Program include: (a) an M.D. and/or Ph.D. degree;(b) M.D. candidates must have completed training in internal medicine, gastroenterology/hepatology, pediatrics, or pathology;(c) outstanding recommendations from three sponsors concerning excellence in previous educational and training experiences;(d) enthusiasm expressed by interviewing faculty;(e) a strongly conveyed interest in relating basic science to the pathogenesis of hepatic disease;and (f) a sincere interest in a career in academic medicine. C. Training Facilities The research training facilities and resources available to the training program are essentially those of the Liver Research Center and the Liver Cell Membrane Protein Program Project. Facilities include 37 well-equipped laboratories, Animal Institute and all institutional support facilities (library, instrument shop, scientific computer center, etc.). Core facilities include cell culture, morphology, molecular biology, and special animal cores. Available equipment includes ultracentrifuges, rotors, electrophoresis equipment, computers with internet connections, NMR facilities, liquid scintillation counters, gamma counter, liver perfusion apparatus, laminar flow hoods, cell culture facilities, recombinant DNA and cloning laboratory, electron microscopic facilities, and scanning confocal microscopes.