National Institute of
NRSA Institutional Postdoctoral Training Grants (T32) Program Relevant Research Areas
NIGMS accepts postdoctoral research training grant applications to the Parent T32 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to enhance research training in four clinically relevant research areas within the mission of NIGMS: anesthesiology; clinical pharmacology; medical genetics; and injury and critical illness. NIGMS emphasizes the use of these programs to train clinician-scientists, most of whom are expected to participate in the training program for at least two years.
For general information about these institutional NRSA T32 postdoctoral training programs, visit Contacts by Research Area for Program contact(s).
Anesthesiology Postdoctoral Training Program
The goal is to provide rigorous postdoctoral research training with an emphasis on hypothesis-driven laboratory or clinical research. Trainees, most of whom would hold the M.D. degree, will be expected to spend at least 2 years in the training program and should have the opportunity to acquire fundamental knowledge, skills, and research techniques to explore research problems relevant to anesthesiology, including, for example, anesthetic pharmacology, systems neurobiology, and toxicology; issues related to anesthesia critical care; and pain and pain management, especially related to the peri-operative period. Most trainees will be recruited from anesthesiology residency programs, but individuals from other clinical specialties may be considered if their research interest is focused on problems in anesthesiology. For trainees with a Ph.D. degree, the research and training should be specifically designed to promote a research career addressing problems in anesthesiology and should provide opportunities to enhance their research training with a clinical perspective.
Clinical Pharmacology Postdoctoral Training Program
Individuals in these programs should receive experience in the methodology and conduct of basic and clinical research to qualify them to investigate the effects and mechanisms of drug actions in humans. Trainees, most of whom would have the M.D. or Pharm.D. degree, will be expected to spend at least 2 years in the training program emphasizing rigorous research training to complement their clinical background. Trainees should have the opportunity to acquire fundamental scientific knowledge, skills, and research techniques in such areas as basic pharmacology, biochemistry, physiology, molecular medicine and gene therapy, biostatistics, pharmacogenetics/genomics, and other biomedical subdisciplines. For trainees with a Ph.D. degree, the research and training should be specifically designed to promote a career in clinical pharmacology research in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry, academia, or government research or regulatory agencies.
Medical Genetics Postdoctoral Training Program
Programs should provide advanced and specialized research training in the principles of genetics, with the goal of understanding human genetic disorders. Trainees, who would normally hold the M.D. degree, should be offered opportunities conducting research with faculty who represent a variety of approaches to genetics, ranging from molecular genetics to human population genetics that will build on, and complement, the trainee's clinical background. These individuals have usually completed the equivalent of residency training but have had little research experience and are not appropriate candidates for other mechanisms of support. For holders of the Ph.D. degree, research and training should be specifically designed to foster a career in human and medical genetics. Clinical laboratory training may also be offered to Ph.D. fellows who seek board certification in cytogenetics, biochemical genetics, and/or molecular genetics. Although medical genetics programs are typically based primarily in medical school departments, training opportunities may be offered in both clinical and molecular genetics. The clinical genetics components are designed to prepare the fellows for careers in academic medicine and to allow them to qualify for certification by the American Board of Medical Genetics.
Injury and Critical Illness Postdoctoral Training Program
Programs should provide multidisciplinary research training for individuals at the postdoctoral level seeking to improve the understanding of the body's systemic responses to major injury, with an overall goal of fostering application of this knowledge to the treatment of trauma and burn injury victims as well as critically ill patients. Trainees, most of whom would hold the M.D. degree, will be expected to spend at least 2 years in the training program and to apply such basic disciplines as biochemistry, physiology, immunology, microbiology, cell biology, molecular biology, or biomedical engineering to the study of injury and critical illness. Training grant programs focusing on research solely in traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, epidemiology, injury prevention, long-term rehabilitation strategies, delivery of health care or the physics of tissue damage will not be accepted by NIGMS. These topics are, however, important aspects within the trauma and emergency/critical care communities, so exposure of the of the trainees to the topics via seminars, coursework or rotations through appropriate settings (laboratories or otherwise) may serve a role in rounding out the educational experience. While the majority of trainees should be physicians at some stage of their residency or clinical specialty training, individuals with a Ph.D. can also be eligibly as long as the training grant program provides some unique insight to the clinical aspects of trauma. Trainees from other clinical disciplines, such as D.V.M.s or D.D.S.s, are eligible as well, provided their research interests and career goals are compatible with both the training program and the general mission of NIGMS.