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Educational Programs

The educational program in the Center of Metabolic Disease Research (CMDR) at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University provides a comprehensive training in the field of metabolism and cardiovascular diseases. The goal of this program is to train outstanding researchers with broad and intensive knowledge and skills in the field of metabolic disease research.  CMDR offers educational programs for different levels of education:

  1. Postdoctoral Program welcomes outstanding scientists with PhD or MD degrees.  Postdoctoral fellows should directly submit their applications to CMDR faculties. Fellows are expected to have strong expertise in the selected field and should be able to perform experiments independently. She or He will be expected to present research progress in weekly laboratory research meeting and present in laboratory journal club, and shall complete an annual progress report and evaluation. Postdoctoral fellows are encouraged to submit grant application for AHA and NIH fellowships.
     
  2. Graduate program accepts students enrolled in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program from Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. The mission of the graduate program in CMDR is to train independent research scientists.  Graduate students acquire a broad understanding of human disease, therapeutics and experimental designs through rigorous trainings that integrate. Graduate students can choose classes from the Organ System Cluster, Translational Medicine Cluster, Molecular and Cellular Biosciences Cluster, and Infectious Disease and Immunity Cluster, and will conduct their PhD thesis research with a CMDR faculty. In addition to the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program requirements, students will be expected to present research progress in weekly laboratory research meeting and journal club, and will complete an annual progress report and evaluation.   Graduate students are encouraged to submit grant application for AHA and NIH pre-doctoral fellowships.
     
  3. Undergraduate Research Program (URP) accepts undergraduate student from the Temple University URP program. Temple undergraduate students are eligible if they meet overall GPA of 2.75 and a calculated math/science GPA of 2.75. A graduate student or a postdoctoral associate will train the enrolled URP student on research design, experimental procedures, research figure preparation, and abstract presentation. URP students can earn research credit hours if they are enrolled in the appropriate research class of their school.
     
  4. Research Seminar is organized by CMDR biweekly to encourage the exchange of ideas and to report noval findings. Distinguished speakers in the field of metabolic disease research will be invited to present one-hour long presentations at noon.  Food and beverages are served and all are welcome to attend.  For a current schedule or further information, please contact Huimin Shan or check on our event web page.
     
  5. Journal Club is designed to bring together students, post-docs and faculties to discuss current topics in the literature. Journal clubs are held weekly in CMDR at Room 1010 in the medical education research building (MERB) at 4:00 PM on each Friday. The intended format is to have one trainee from CMDR present a research paper of general interest published in a top journal.  This provides a unique opportunity for CMDR trainees to hone their presentation skill and to bring the center up to date with regard to recent scientific developments. Each presenter will prepare by giving a practice talk to faculty coaches to develop their scientific communication and presentation skill. Faculty will provide feedback after the presentation. This forum is designed to help trainees to prepare for presentations at scientific conferences and apply for post-doctoral and professional positions.
     
  6. Annual Research Symposium is a chance for the trainees in CMDR to present what they have learned through their research experiences to a larger audience. The symposium also provides a forum for students, postdocs, faculty, and the community to discuss cutting edge research topics. The symposium includes poster and presentation sessions by students from all academic disciplines, plus invited guests.

 

All trainees in the CMDR education program will be involved in research to characterize pathophysiological changes in metabolic disease using animal and cellular models, to define molecular mechanism, identify therapeutic targets, and translate new discoveries into novel therapies. All trainees should attend the CMDR research seminar series. Trainees are encouraged to attend other research seminars, and if supported by their supervisor, they are encouraged to attend and present noteworthy scientific findings in more elite conferences.