# Training of the Pediatric Physician-Scientist

> **NIH NIH T32** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $327,854

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 This proposal is the third renewal application for support of the Pediatric Physician-Scientist T32
training program in the Department of Pediatrics (DOP) at Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM).
Pediatric physician-scientists play a crucial role in advancing knowledge that improves child health. To meet
the ongoing national need to replenish the pediatric physician-scientist pipeline at the clinical post-postdoctoral
fellowship level, our program supports a mentored career development pathway for 4 Trainees per year
(typically for 2 years each) by leveraging a wealth of biomedical research resources across the WUSM
campus, the DOP and our Child Health Research Center (NICHD CHRCDA K12). For the past 20 years and
going forward, the long-term objective of this program is to develop Trainees who focus their research efforts
on pediatric disease-oriented biology by applying recent advances in the basic and translational sciences, such
as developmental biology, cell biology, immunology, genetics, multi-omics systems biology, and bioinformatics.
The specific aims of this proposal include: 1) a protected mentored research experience with a well-established
investigator across a wide range of disciplines related to child health within WUSM and the DOP, 2) obligatory
educational programs in laboratory management, scientific rigor, statistics, grantsmanship, responsible
conduct of research, and biomedical informatics, 3) individualized coursework based on the Trainees area of
investigation (e.g., genetics, cell biology, computational biology), 4) continuous feedback to the Trainee,
mentor and program leadership, and 5) a flexible environment that facilitates the development of Trainees who
are women and are under-represented minorities. The program, now 20 years old, has an excellent track
record by exceeding national benchmarks (15-year T to K conversion rate = 52%; this cycle = 57%), and will
ultimately close the knowledge gap between basic/translational scientists and pediatric clinicians. Gary A.
Silverman, M.D., Ph.D., and David Hunstad, M.D. again serve as the Program Director, and the Training
Director, respectively. Our Trainees will continue to utilize a vast array of institutionally funded, state-of-the-art
research core facilities that provide, for example, whole-genome/exome DNA sequencing, single-cell RNA
sequencing, induced pluripotent stem cells and organoids, bioinformatics, cryo-EM and other advanced
imaging, CRISPR-CAS9 genome editing and model animal development, to facilitate the study of pediatric
disease states. The long-term goals of this program are being realized as its Trainees contribute to our
understanding of development and childhood diseases for decades to come, while evolving into the next
generation of scientific leaders, role models, and mentors for subsequent generations of pediatric physician-
scientists.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10839833
- **Project number:** 5T32HD043010-22
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** GARY ARTHUR SILVERMAN
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $327,854
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2002-07-01 → 2028-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10839833

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10839833, Training of the Pediatric Physician-Scientist (5T32HD043010-22). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-14 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10839833. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*