Molecular Physiology of the Cardiovascular System Training Program

The Molecular Physiology of the Cardiovascular System training program is a multi-disciplinary training program for pre- and postdoctoral trainees.

The goal of our program is to train students and post-doctoral fellows in the physiology and pathophysiology of the cardiovascular system by defining individualized training programs comprised of coursework, seminars, training in state-of-the-art technologies and pursuing career development opportunities. Our program emphasizes flexibility and choices in all coursework based on the IDP with the exception of ethics training. Our program is strongly committed to training responsible scientists committed to ethical, rigorous, innovative, visionary, and reproducible cardiovascular research. The primary basis for all training is individual research activities supervised by laboratory mentors who are focused on the three program themes. In addition, complementary opportunities within the MPCS program have been added to ensure that our students are trained in research design, analysis and reporting practices, have exposure to state-of-the-art methods, have an in depth appreciation for the literature and have well-developed career planning resources to ensure their long-term success. Strong and consistent efforts at the levels of both Baylor College of Medicine and the program instill in our trainees the critical importance of research and academic integrity in their own work and to recognize and report academic fraud and scientific misconduct in the work of others.

The entire training program is interdisciplinary in nature, with faculty from seven basic science and nine clinical departments at Baylor College of Medicine and affiliate local institutes in the Texas Medical Center (Rice University, Texas A&M, Methodist Hospital). Each trainee will have a primary mentor (the PI of the laboratory), and one or two associate mentors In the case of predoctoral trainees, one of the associate mentors will also serve on the thesis advisory committee.

Cardiovascular scientists in our training program have developed powerful techniques to control gene expression in model organisms, which can be used to delineate the relationship between altered gene expression and cardiovascular disease. New imaging modalities have revolutionized how scientists study the cardiovascular system in living cells and organisms. Moreover, tissue engineering and stem cells have emerged as promising therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. These approaches are even more potent when coupled with functional studies in relevant animal models, particularly in combination with translational (pre-clinical) studies.

The MPCS encompass three major themes:

• Electrophysiology and cardiac arrhythmias
• Cardiovascular development and congenital disease
• Tissue engineering, regenerative cardiology, and development of innovative methods for analysis and treatment of cardiovascular disease

Graduate students are eligible for the Molecular Physiology of the Cardiovascular System training program after their first year of study. Postdoctoral trainees are eligible upon admission. Both pre- and post- must be members of a training faculty's lab.

Program directors will solicit nominations from the training faculty and the chosen candidates will submit a curriculum vitae and a brief summary outlining the rationale and specific aims of their proposed research and their relevance to the goals of the training program.

The primary faculty mentor for a candidate will submit a letter of support outlining the training potential of the candidate, current progress of the research. Further letters from secondary mentors or members of the student’s thesis committee (in the case of a predoctoral student) is recommended.

Internationally recognized experts on each of these themes participate in the expanded MPCS training program. This continued evolution of training opportunities is a direct result of the research achievements of the program’s training faculty and the intellectual environment of Baylor College of Medicine and affiliated institutions in the Texas Medical Center, ensures that our program will continue to yield high-quality scientist-educators