# Multidisciplinary Training in Molecular Endocrinology

> **NIH NIH T32** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $704,217

## Abstract

Summary
 This proposal requests continued support for the Molecular Endocrinology Training Program
(METP) at Vanderbilt University. Progress towards understanding and curing obesity, diabetes and
many other diseases requires the training of the next generation of scientists with expertise in
molecular endocrinology, the goal of this program. The METP comprises 29 faculty members from 5
science departments. Of this group 24 are established faculty with substantial training experience and a
track record of running well-funded programs and 5 are new investigators; 6 of these preceptors are
female and 8 are from underrepresented minority groups. The METP preceptors constitute an
unusually diverse and talented group of individuals whose work covers the spectrum of molecular
endocrinology. These preceptors conduct research in the general areas of: 1) signal transduction 2)
metabolic regulation and 3) pancreatic islet cell development and function. The request for funding of a
steady state level of 8 predoctoral and 4 postdoctoral trainees is justified on the basis of the number,
size and quality of the research programs directed by the preceptors and the Institutional commitment
to continue the same level of trainee recruitment despite the tough economic climate. All METP
trainees are appointed upon the advice of a Steering Committee after being nominated by a preceptor.
Postdoctoral trainees have a Ph.D. degree. Rigorous in-depth research training is the focus of both the
pre- and postdoctoral training programs. However, the METP also ensures that all trainees receive a
broad didactic education. Predoctoral training in the METP usually follows that received in the
Interdisciplinary Graduate Program (IGP). The IGP recruits almost all predoctoral trainees in the
biomedical sciences at Vanderbilt, provides a first year core curriculum, safety training and formal
evaluation and career counseling programs. This centralized recruitment has considerably increased
the number and quality of predoctoral students that enter Vanderbilt. After four laboratory rotations
predoctoral students choose a preceptor for their thesis project and compete for METP support. The
IGP and METP have been very successful in promoting diversity and both provide ongoing training in
the Responsible Conduct of Research and Rigor. All METP trainees attend an annual METP Day
retreat, trainee-run data clubs and the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center (VDC) seminar series where they
meet with visiting scientists. In conjunction with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the METP
initiated a novel strategy to increase the recruitment of disabled individuals, specifically
undergraduates with type 1 diabetes, through the creation of a VDC-funded Summer Diabetes
Research Program. The METP has already successfully trained 173 individuals of whom 128 have gone
onto careers involving science with another 45 individuals still in training.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10837064
- **Project number:** 5T32DK007563-37
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Richard M O'Brien
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $704,217
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1998-07-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10837064

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10837064, Multidisciplinary Training in Molecular Endocrinology (5T32DK007563-37). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10837064. Licensed CC0.

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