Abstract The long-term objective of the Vanderbilt Training in Gastroenterology T32 Program is to identify, recruit, train, and mentor a diverse workforce of compassionate and dedicated investigators by providing a rigorous scientific foundation in 1) basic research, to reveal new disease mechanisms and identify novel therapeutic targets; or 2) clinical/translational research, with the opportunity for formal studies in clinical science, epidemiology, or informatics. Richard Peek serves as Director and is assisted by an Associate Director, Keith Wilson, as well as a Steering Committee and Internal and External Advisory Committees composed of senior faculty deeply invested in training young investigators and cultivating diversity. The design of this multidisciplinary program is to support 5 postdoctoral fellows/year (1-2 years in duration) who show exceptional aptitude for pursuing research careers. Trainees are selected from a curated pool of fellows accepted into the Gastroenterology training programs, physician-scientist applicants from other clinical training programs, and applicants that apply directly to preceptor laboratories. A customized mentoring team is constructed for each trainee consisting of a Mentor with nationally recognized expertise and a Research Advisory Committee to provide additional guidance, mentoring, and feedback. Each trainee becomes part of a translational research group that includes basic and clinical investigators (40 Preceptors/10 Departments), enabling an in-depth understanding of specific diseases from bench-to-bedside. The trainee experience is enriched by an extensive program of seminars and coursework tailored to meet individual needs and via the Academy of Investigators, which provides comprehensive career development and a Diversity Program focused on underrepresented minority (URM) investigators. This T32 is also engrafted into a continuum that provides a wealth of funding opportunities only available to fellows and junior faculty to facilitate an uninterrupted research focus resulting from funding stability. In the last 15 years, 51 trainee scientists have been or will be supported by this Program (33 MD or MD/PhD, 16 PhD, 2 DO); 26 (51%) have been female, and 10 (20%) have been from URM groups. Further, the number of female trainees and URM trainees increased substantially in the current funding period (female: n=12, 60%; URM: n=5, 25%) compared to the previous funding period (female: n=5, 36%; URM: n=1, 7%). At present, 41/51 (80%) of these trainees are pursuing research-intensive or research-related careers or are still in training, 81% of Program graduates have received research funding and, since 2014, the average number of publications by all trainees is 16.4/year. Collectively, the unique environment that supports digestive diseases research at Vanderbilt, catalyzed by rich collaborative interactions between basic and clinical researchers, a wide range of supporting Cores and Centers, robust institut...