T32 Training Grant

 A new era in training academic leaders in cardiac surgery has arrived! 

Through funding provided by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the Department of Cardiac Surgery offers a specialized training grant program to prepare the next generation of exceptional surgeon-scientists to tackle the most pressing scientific questions in adult and pediatric cardiovascular diseases. T32 training grant programs provide funded, structured, and mentored time for aspiring scientists to focus on inquiry into some of the most important and timely issues in the field.

Application Deadline: The application cycle for the 2024-2026 program has closed. We will begin accepting applications for the 2025-2027 program on August 1, 2024.

Program Overview

This exciting new T32 training grant program is designed to support research education for cardiac, thoracic, or general surgery residents. The program will offer 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 proposed Core Program will provide 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.

Trainees will be selected competitively by the program’s Research Committee. Special emphasis will be devoted to recruitment of under-represented in medicine candidates. This training program will be embedded within the rich research 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, a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program, and the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, which is the largest academic health services research program in the USA. Individual mentors will be responsible for guiding their trainees in generating research proposals, supervising trainees’ work, and evaluating trainees’ performance. Additional mentoring will be provided to each trainee by a discipline-specific committees and general oversight by the Steering Committee. Prior trainees by mentors involved in this program have been extremely successful in proceeding to productive academic careers in both basic or clinical/health services research.

The surgeon-scientist residency research fellow position means a post-graduate research residency position which:

  • Shall report directly to the Surgeon-Scientist Training Program Director and Associate Directors.
  • Shall be a graduate of an accredited medical school and shall remain in excellent academic standing with permission from Program Director and Chairman to apply for dedicated research fellowship.
  • Shall be the equivalent to a full-time position comprising of no less than 40 hours per week.
  • Shall be completed in 24-month time frame as structured by usual fellowship standards, starting July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2025, and so forth.
  • Shall exceed the minimum standards required by a residency review committee in the specialty the research fellow has trained or is currently training.
  • Shall be filled by a surgical research fellow who will receive formalized instruction in basic or outcomes research, including biostatistics, research ethics, grant writing and regulatory guidelines.
  • Shall be supervised by a sponsor-mentor who is a member of the research team with experience as Principal Investigator and who remains current with Michigan Medicine Research Policy & Procedures.
  • Shall be filled by a research fellow who is a graduate of medical school and currently enrolled in a surgical residency program, as well as a United States citizen, national or permanent resident of the United States or eligible to work in the United States. Proof of eligibility to work in the United States must be provided upon hire.

 

Application Information

We are seeking candidates for two Residency Research Fellowship positions starting on July 1, 2025. The following items will be required to complete the application process:

  • Completion of the online application form
  • Submission of your curriculum vitae uploaded to your online application
  • Submission of your best written work uploaded to your online application
  • Submission of your personal statement describing your experience, research interests, and career plans uploaded to your online application
  • Submission of one (1) recommendation letter from your program director (or a faculty member in your training program) sent via email to: [email protected]

All application components must be received by November 30, 2024.