Multi-disciplinary Training in Integrative Cardiovascular Biology

GHSU has been awarded funding from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute for a new multidisciplinary training program in integrative cardiovascular biology. The long-term objective of this program is to train pre-doctoral Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students for independent research careers in integrative cardiovascular biology, utilizing molecular, genetic, cellular, tissue/organ, whole animal and human experimental approaches.

Trainees supported by the program are Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. graduate students who have completed the first year of full-time enrollment in the Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program in the College of Graduate Studies. Students are selected based on their expressed interest in integrative cardiovascular biology and their previous academic performance and research experience. Eligible students are those who chose to pursue their dissertation research in the laboratory of one of the training grant faculty. Students compete for positions in the program and are selected based on their academic performance, research productivity, and overall commitment to cardiovascular research. The training program is strongly committed to increasing the number of underrepresented minorities and women who receive training in cardiovascular research.

The training grant provides an annual stipend, tuition, fees, health insurance, and a travel allowance for attending national scientific conferences. All trainees are required to participate in didactic training activities, which consist of the first year core curriculum and passing the first qualifying exam; an advanced course on Cardiovascular Physiology & Pharmacology; courses in Scientific Communications and Research Ethics, and Biostatistics; attendance in Pharmacology & Toxicology, Physiology, and Vascular Biology Center seminar series; the cardiovascular journal club; and the annual Graduate Research Day activities.

This program involves the expertise of over 25 faculty in the Departments of Cell Biology & Anatomy, Medicine, Pathology, Pediatrics, Pharmacology & Toxicology, Physiology, Surgery. A majority of these faculty also have appointment or affiliations with the Georgia Prevention Institute, the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, the Vascular Biology Center, and the Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine on the GHSU campus. The faculty preceptors of the program represent an outstanding group of established integrative cardiac and vascular biologists whose research interests cover five related cardiovascular areas: 1) vascular cell signaling, 2) control of vascular tone, 3) cardiac development, 4) endothelial dysfunction, and 5) prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Facilities for research training include the individual laboratories of the preceptors, and the core laboratories of the Vascular Biology Center, the Georgia Prevention Institute, the Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine, the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, the Departments of Neurology, Physiology and Pharmacology, as well the outstanding institutional Core Facilities in Biotelemetry, Molecular Biology, Histology, Transgenic Analysis, Transgenic and Embryonic Stem Cell, Flow Cytometry and Cell Imaging, encompassing in excess of 130,000 sq.ft. of research space in four contiguous buildings.

Upon completion of the program, students will be ready to pursue post-doctoral training at premier laboratories as they begin their careers as independent investigators in cardiovascular sciences.

Program Faculty

David M. Pollock, Program Director, Vascular Biology Center, Department of Surgery

Jennifer S. Pollock, Program Co-Director, Vascular Biology Center, Dept of Pharmacology & Toxicology

Wendy B. Bollag, Department of Physiology

Michael W. Brands, Department of Physiology

Ruth B. Caldwell, Vascular Biology Center, Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy

William R. Caldwell, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology

John D. Catravas, Vascular Biology Center, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology

Zheng Dong, Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy

David J. Fulton, Vascular Biology Center, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology

Gregory A. Harshfield, Georgia Prevention Institute, Department of Pediatrics

Edward W. Inscho, Department of Physiology

Mario B. Marrero, Vascular Biology Center, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology

Richard A. McIndoe, Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine, Department of Pathology

Jin-Xiong She, Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine, Department of Pathology

David W. Stepp, Vascular Biology Center, Department of Physiology

Richard C. Venema, Vascular Biology Center, Department of Pediatrics

R. Clinton Webb, Department of Physiology

Richard E. White, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology

Mong H. Wang, Department of Physiology