Project Summary This is an application for renewal of a longstanding program to provide intensive post-doctoral training in modern methods of nephrologic research. Continued funding of six stipends per year is requested for this joint training program that provides support for clinically trained, research-track nephrology fellows in both our adult and pediatric nephrology programs. Although the highest priority of this program is to train physician-scientists, there is also a strong commitment to the training of basic scientist trainees with the Ph.D. degree for careers in kidney research. Each year up to 3 new trainees are recruited into the program after completing residency training in internal medicine or pediatrics. Only fellows with a strong commitment to multi-year research training are recruited into the program. Additional basic science trainees may also be recruited into the program when appropriate. Training is provided in both laboratory-based and patient-oriented research. The training faculty is drawn from multiple clinical and basic science departments (Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Biomedical Engineering, Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Cell Biology, Epidemiology and Public Health, Genetics, Immunobiology, Pathology, Pharmacology) and spans diverse biomedical disciplines relevant to kidney disease research: electrolyte physiology and pathophysiology, cell biology and experimental pathology, biostatistics, genetics and developmental biology, immunology and transplantation, vascular biology, tissue engineering, and clinical epidemiology. Although the core of research training is provided through work on a selected research topic under the supervision of an individual preceptor, training is enhanced by a mentoring committee made up of the primary mentor, a secondary mentor and one of the program directors, as well as a broad array of teaching conferences, seminars and courses. Indeed, many of our trainees enroll in graduate degree programs specifically designed for training clinician investigators, including the Investigative Medicine Ph.D. program and the Program in Chronic Disease Epidemiology that leads to a Master of Science in Epidemiology and Public Health. Over the past 40 years this program has trained many leaders in academic nephrology, and the recent track record continues to be outstanding. The majority of trainees who completed training during the past 15 years currently hold either full-time academic positions or research-related positions in industry, and many have successfully competed for career development faculty grants from the NIH or American Heart Association (e.g. K08, K23, Fellow-to-Faculty Transition Award) or have already obtained NIH R01 grants. The program continues to have a strong commitment to achieving ethnic diversity, and has successfully recruited and trained many underrepresented minority candidates over the past 15 year period.