# Training in Translational Research in Pulmonary Vascular Biology

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2022 · $533,047

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Biomedical investigators are experiencing a limitation in their collective ability to translate the
remarkable basic science discoveries of the current era into the clinical arena—a divide
appropriately termed “the valley of death.” In our first two funding cycles, we have established a
strong T32 postdoctoral training program in bench-to-bedside research methodology designed to
train the next generation of clinical and basic researchers in translational approaches to
pulmonary vascular biology and medicine. The program has thus far trained twenty-three trainees,
who have had significant success in publication, grant funding, and securing academic positions;
thirteen of these trainees were women, three identified as under-represented minorities (URM).
Our program recognized the necessity for practical training in scientific entrepreneurship and
biotechnology, and our efforts in bolstering this aspect of training have resulted in three trainees
obtaining an MBA. In the third cycle of funding, we will continue to evolve and enhance our
training program. We are focused on strategies to increase the diversity among our trainees; and
in response to our trainees’ requests for entrepreneurship education without the commitment to
obtaining an MBA, we have added options for micro-credential programs and formed an
Entrepreneurship Educational Board. Further, to enhance the training of our post-doctoral
trainees and expand the scope of our program, we will informally include participation by local
pre-doctoral trainees in select components of our existing curriculum. Importantly, our post-
doctoral trainees will continue to be co-mentored by a faculty with complementary research
approaches to provide comprehensive training, and projects focused on patient-oriented bench-
to-bedside research, with constant attention to trainee career development. Our faculty include
translationally-focused physician-scientists and PhDs spanning basic science to
entrepreneurship, with a history of productivity in pulmonary vascular biology, excellent funding
support, successful mentoring, and expertise from molecular discovery to clinical trials to
biotechnology commercialization. Substantial institutional support is available through
endowments to the VMI. The proposed training program, leadership, advisory boards, training
faculty, and infrastructure at the University of Pittsburgh are strongly positioned to build on an
already rich bench-to-bedside translational training program and create a generation of
researchers committed to spanning the “valley of death” between basic research discoveries,
clinical application, and commercial viability in pulmonary vascular disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10495846
- **Project number:** 2T32HL110849-11A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Sruti Shiva
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $533,047
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2012-04-01 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10495846

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10495846, Training in Translational Research in Pulmonary Vascular Biology (2T32HL110849-11A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10495846. Licensed CC0.

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