T32 Program in Pulmonary Focused Foundations in Innovation and Scholarship (PUFFINS)

Program Overview

The Pulmonary Focused Foundations in Innovation and Scholarship program is designed to ensure that the next generation of investigators have the skillsets needed to improve the healthcare and outcomes for individuals with lung diseases with particular emphasis on lung cancer prevention, screening and implementation, critical care, and rare lung diseases, including pulmonary fibrosis, sarcoidosis and cystic fibrosis (CF).  Potential training opportunities in pulmonary diseases span the spectrum from bench to bedside, including basic research, translational research, clinical research, clinical trials and health service research. A unique focus of this program is entrepreneurship and innovation milestones embedded in all projects.

• Two main training pathways: basic science research and clinical science research, with a foundation in innovation and entrepreneurship
• The Basic Science Research Pathway builds on our long-standing multidisciplinary research program in inflammation and fibrosis
• The Clinical Science Research Pathway leverages strong and robust research programs health service research, industry-sponsored clinical trials and NIH-funded clinical trials across departments.
• A distinctive feature is training in innovation and entrepreneurship into all of the training plans, including didactic sessions, incorporation of expertise into Mentoring Committees, pairing of every Trainee with an MHA intern and embedding explicit expectations of entrepreneurship within each project.
• Every trainee will receive training in the domains involved in the “Cycle of Innovation”, and will be expected to complete an in-depth analysis in at least one of these domains during their research training