Clinical Cardiology/Clinical Cardiovascular Research
Training Program
Purpose:
To provide a training option for individuals desiring dual training in clinical cardiology and clinical cardiovascular research.
Introduction:
The rapid development of new and more precise techniques to examine features of human biology has produced tremendous opportunities for progress in cardiovascular research. Unfortunately, at the same time, there has been a continuing decline in the number of physicians choosing a career in biomedical research. As a result, the need for well equipped clinical investigators is greater than ever. Among research disciplines, advances in genetics, genomics and proteomics have produced particularly powerful new tools to use in clinical and epidemiologic investigation of the etiology, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular disease.
The Clinical Cardiology/Clinical Cardiovascular Research Program was established in 2004 under the direction of Dr. David Herrington. Key features of the program include a clinical cardiology fellowship coupled with completion of a Masters Degree in Health Services Research with a curriculum that includes formal training in molecular biology and genetics, supplemental training in genomics, proteomics and informatics, a hands-on basic laboratory practicum and joint mentorship with both clinical and basic science faculty, and participation in external NHLBI sponsored short courses in cardiovascular epidemiology, and the genetics of complex heart, lung, and blood disorders.
Our goal is to attract and train a cohort of outstanding physician scientists who will be fluent in the latest developments in genetics, genomics and proteomics and able to apply this knowledge to the conduct of new cardiovascular epidemiology and clinical cardiovascular research.
Tuition and stipend funding is available through an NIH training program for post-doctoral trainees who are US citizens or permanent residents.
Curriculum:
We recruit two new MD investigators per year into the program. The educational requirements for the trainees in the program include:
- Completion of the requirements for a Masters of Science Degree in Health Services Research including course work, written exams, thesis and oral examination.
- 1st yr fellows attend the AHA's 10 day Seminar on the Epidemiology and Prevention of Cardiovascular
- 2nd yr fellows attend the Jackson Laboratory's Annual Short Course on Genetic Approaches to Complex Heart, Lung, and Blood Diseases.
- Each year fellows attend the AHA's Annual Conference on Cardiovasular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention in Association w/the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.
- Fellows regularly attend several epidemiology and research weekly conferences including a weekly conference with the program director.
- The formal course work required for the Masters Degree Program will be supplemented by additional activities designed to intensify and focus on the genetic and molecular epidemiology of cardiovascular medicine, and includes courses in ethics and the conduct of responsible research.
Health Services Research Graduate Program: Clinical /Molecular Epidemiology Track
You will enroll as a graduate student in The Master of Science Degree in Health Services Research program. The Master of Science Degree in Health Services Research is administered through the Department of Public Health Sciences of Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Faculty members provide expertise and conduct research in the areas of cardiovascular and genetic epidemiology, clinical trials methodology, biostatistics and grant writing. Under the Clinical/Molecular Epidemiology Track of Health Services Research, the course of study will include core requirements supplemented by courses on Molecular Biology, Genetic Epidemiology and Advanced Genetics.
The major objectives of this Masters Degree program are to provide training in conceptual/theoretical frameworks, research methodologies, and statistical methods essential to the design and conduct of clinical and epidemiologic research; to provide training in the fundamentals of molecular biology, genetics/genomics and genetic epidemiology; and lastly to provide training in the basic skills of grant and manuscript preparation.
Students will be required to design a thesis project of publishable quality that is closely aligned with their interests and career objectives. Students will work closely with a pair of Program Faculty Mentors to design an individualized program of study suited to their needs.
For information about the WFU Graduate School:
http://www.wfu.edu/graduate
For information about the Department of Public Health Sciences:
http://www.phs.wfubmc.edu
Master of Science Degree in Health Services Research
Clinical/Molecular Epidemiology Track
Year One
Fall Semester (12 credits)
HSRP 720. Introduction to Epidemiology (4)
HSRP 730. Introduction to Statistics (4)
HSRP 763. Topics in Public Health Sciences (1)
MOGN 731 Molecular Biology (3)
Spring Semester (13 credits)
HSRP 712. Medical Outcomes (2)
HSRP 732. Applied Linear Models (3)
HSRP 740. Research Design and Methodology (4)
HSRP 750. Thesis Research (1)
HSRP 763. Topics in Public Health Sciences (1)
BICM 734 Human Molecular Genetics (2)
Summer (6 credits)
HSRP 741. Research Grant Preparation (3)
HSRP 734. Applied Statistical Methods (3).
Year Two
Thesis only
Completion of Your Thesis
As stated above, students will be required to design a thesis project of publishable quality that is closely aligned with their interests and career objectives. Thesis topic selections will be made in the spring semester of the first year and work to complete the thesis will be in the second year.
Applying to the Clinical Cardiology/Clinical Cardiovascular Research Training Program
You may apply to the Wake Forest University School of Medicine's 4-year Clinical Cardiology/Clinical Cardiovascular Research Training Program through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application System). Show your interest in this program by choosing the 4 yr combined clinical cardiology & research fellowship program.
Clinical Cardiovascular Research Training Program: The Program Faculty
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Wake Forest University Medical School has a long history of support for both clinical and research training. This is best evidenced by the steady increase in research activity at the Wake Forest University Medical School. The ranking of the WFUSM among U.S. medical schools for NIH research funding, measured in direct costs, has risen from 69th out of 126 schools in 1977 to 34th out of 125 schools in 2003. The Wake Forest University School of Medicine received $109.8 million for research from the NIH in 2002. This ongoing success is a direct result of an active program by the administration and faculty of the medical school to continually embrace new technologies and research opportunities. The Medical School's successful and continuously evolving research programs provides a strong and dynamic setting for pre- and postdoctoral training.
For information about the Wake Forest University School of Medicine:
http://www.wfubmc.edu/
The Clinical CV Research Training Faculty
The Clinical CV Research Training program is directed by Dr. David M. Herrington, MD, MHS, Professor of Medicine/Cardiology, Associate Professor in Public Health Sciences and Associate Director of the Center for Human Genomics. He has been actively involved in clinical trials and cardiovascular epidemiology with a focus on heart disease in women, the cardiovascular effects of estrogen and the pharmacogenetics of estrogen action. He is currently involved in genome-wide association studies searching for genetic variants associated with early and extensive subclinical atherosclerosis.
The Clinical CV Research Training program relies on a multi-disciplinary collaboration of faculty members from the Departments of Medicine/Cardiology, Public Health Sciences, Surgical Sciences, Physiology and Pharmacology and Biochemistry. Dr. Herrington is joined by the following program faculty:
Greg Burke, MD, MSc, Professor and Chair, Public Health Sciences - chronic disease research in populations especially cardiovascular disease.
Deborah Meyers, PhD, Professor, Pediatrics, Co-Director, Human Genomics Center, Section Head, Section on Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics - gene mapping in common complex diseases as well as in Mendelian disorders, gene identification in several respiratory disorders including allergic conditions, asthma and COPD.
Donald W. Bowden, MD, Professor of Biochemistry and Internal Medicine/ Endocrinology & Metabolism, Associate Director, Center for Human Genomics - a wide range of human genetic studies of both single gene disorders: cystic fibrosis, multiple endocrine neoplasia, retinitis pigmentosa, and maturity onset diabetes of the young, and complex diseases: Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, autoimmune thyroid disease, recurrent otitis media, end stage renal disease, diabetic nephropathy, and diabetic cardiovascular disease.
David C. Sane, MD, Associate Professor, Internal Medicine/ Cardiology - the role of extracellular matrix proteins, integrin receptors, and the protein stabilizing enzyme transglutaminase in vascular disease,expressed wild type and mutant forms of the ECM protein vitronectin , mechanisms of action of platelet inhibitors and the effect of platelet receptor polymorphisms on platelet function, mechanisms of action of the angiogenesis inhibitor angiostatin.
Dalane Kitzman, MD, Associate Professor, Medicine/Cardiology and Director of Echocardiography - aging of the heart, exercise physiology, diastolic dysfunction, heart failure, and echocardiography.
Lynne E. Wagenknecht, Dr. PH, Professor and Section Head, Section on Epidemiology, Department of Public Health Sciences - a chronic disease epidemiologist with an extensive research portfolio in the areas of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Stephen S. Rich, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair of Public Health Sciences/Epidemiology and Neurology , Associate Professor of Cancer Biology- genetic epidemiology and human gene mapping, with a specialization in the genetic basis of cardiovascular disease, particularly diabetes and its complications, and autoimmunity.
Eugene Bleecker, MD , Professor and Section Head of Internal Medicine/Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Co-Director of the Center for Human Genomics- inflammatory mechanisms in airways diseases, epidemiologic studies and clinical trials, respiratory as well as cardiovascular physiology in animal models and man.
K. Bridget Brosnihan, PhD, Professor of Surgical Sciences-General / Hypertension and Vascular Disease Center and Physiology & Pharmacology-assays of angiotensin system hormones and enzymes ,measurements of inflammatory markers, cytokines, and growth factors.
David Busija, PhD, Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology- the mechanisms of vascular dysfunction that occur in the cerebral circulation as a result of diet-induced insulin resistance, the role of mitochondrial ATP-sensitive potassium channels (mitoKATP) in the protection of brain cells against anoxic conditions and the role of oxygen free radicals derived from the cyclooxygenase system and mitochondrial in promoting neuronal injury during ischemic conditions.
John R. Crouse, III, MD, FAHA, Professor of Medicine and Public Health Sciences - nutrition and metabolic risk factors for atherosclerosis and on non-invasive imaging of vascular disease, and consequences of vascular disease.
Clinical Cardiology/Clinical Cardiovascular Research Training Program CV
The Clinical Cardiology/Clinical Cardiovascular Research Program, established in 2004, has been successful in recruiting physicians who desire to receive training in the latest developments in cardiovascular epidemiology and clinical cardiovascular research. Click on the link below to view the program's CV which lists current and past trainees, awards and honors, publications and presentations.
Clinical Cardiology/Clinical CV Research Training CV