Program Director
The T-32 Cardiovascular Medicine Research Fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is a post-doctoral training program that prepares individuals for productive and fulfilling careers within cardiovascular research. It fosters the development of physician investigators who require rigorous formal training to translate basic and clinical research to the clinical practice of cardiovascular medicine.
Brigham and Women's Hospital enjoys a rich history as a training ground for cardiovascular research. Through the leadership of Drs. Soma Weiss, Samuel Levine, Lewis Dexter, Bernard Lown, Richard Gorlin, Thomas W. Smith, and currently Drs. Calum MacRae and Peter Libby, the cardiovascular training program at BWH has flourished. Many former trainees of our program have been extremely productive and hold prestigious leadership positions in American cardiology and cardiovascular science.
The T-32 Cardiovascular Medicine Research Fellowship program provides the foundation for scientists and physician/scientists to develop independent research programs, obtain faculty positions and acquire peer-reviewed funding. All trainees attend conferences on basic and clinical research topics regardless of their research focus as we believe each trainee benefits from this global exposure. This approach also increases collaborative efforts within Cardiovascular Medicine at BWH and helps to strengthen translational and interdisciplinary research efforts.
The long-standing program emphasizes three inter-related areas of research focus in the training of cardiovascular investigators:
The T-32 research training program focuses on developing investigators who can advance translational research from a clinical or basic perspective. Trainees will choose among advanced training opportunities in:
During research training, trainees are strictly “protected” from clinical service duties for the cardiovascular division. Part of our Division’s long term and consistent success in training and cultivating the careers of productive academic cardiovascular specialists depends on this ethos of “protected” time. To ensure integration and coordination of the traineeship research training, we have devised a structured system to support the training program.
Many trainees engage in advanced course work supported by resources from our T-32 training grant. The scope of this course work adapts to each individual’s research discipline. Trainees interested in a career in clinical research often participate in advanced course work offered through programs at Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School or Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During the past five years, trainees interested in basic research have been involved in advanced course work at Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Medical School or Massachusetts Institute of Technology, depending on their area of interest.
Many research laboratories host multidisciplinary research meetings allowing trainees broader exposure to research activities in closely associated laboratories. These experiences include journal clubs as well as a review of research progress. Individual laboratories host their own lab meetings weekly. Examples of these multidisciplinary laboratory meetings include:
Vascular Medicine: The laboratories of Drs. Peter Libby, Joseph Loscalzo, Jorge Plutzky, Richard Lee, and others discuss basic vascular biology weekly. There is a clinical component of this group, with Drs. Gregory Piazza, Marie Gerhard-Herman, and Samuel Z. Goldhaber hosting discussions of endothelial function and dysfunction.
Cardiovascular Genetics: Drs. Christine Seidman and Jonathan Seidman lead this group and focus on the genetics of many disorders involving the cardiovascular system such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, familial congenital heart disease syndromes and right ventricular dysplasia.
Heart Failure and Transplantation: This group, including Drs. Mandeep Mehra, Lynne Stevenson, Akshay Desai, and Michael Givertz, meets weekly to discuss clinical trials, research efforts and progress in active protocols.
Interventional Cardiology: The interventional faculty, Drs. Deepak Bhatt and Laura Mauri, each hold lab meetings to discuss research progress ranging from stent biology to pharmacologic therapy in the coronary vasculature.
Trainees have the opportunity to select from a wide range of training opportunities ranging from cardiovascular epidemiology to clinical and basic research. The historical success of our training program in fostering academic cardiovascular investigators permits us to continue to attract outstanding, highly motivated applicants with diverse backgrounds with high potential to succeed in rewarding, sustained, and productive academic careers after training in Cardiovascular Medicine at BWH, as attested to by the achievements of our graduates.
The training program has selected 30 core faculty members within the Cardiovascular Medicine Division and collaborating faculty from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Children’s Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Application deadline for the T32 research fellowship is April 1 from MD and/or PhD who are US citizens or permanent residents.
We require the following documents for a complete application to be reviewed:
Each application is reviewed in its entirety with an eye toward a combination of overall academic excellence, leadership ability, career development potential and personal character. The program accepts ten fellows per year.
The typical interview day begins with registration with continental breakfast followed by overview of the BWH Cardiovascular Disease program and research fellowship. Applicants will interview with four to seven faculty members and current fellows.
For the purposes of making travel arrangements, applicants may anticipate being finished with all interview and tour activities by 4pm. Please see our hotel accommodations page for more information. Applicants are expected to fund all travel costs.
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