PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Training Program (Endocrinology T32) at Duke University Medical Center seeks to identify, recruit, and train the next generation of biomedical scientists so that they can continue growing as part of the national research workforce. The program centers on investigators in the Duke Division of Endocrinology, its affiliated research centers, and other collaborating Divisions and Departments at Duke. The topical focus of this program is research related to diabetes, obesity, and metabolic diseases. Postdoctoral participants in this program will be either board-eligible or board-certified physicians with training in Internal Medicine, Surgery, or Pediatrics, or PhD scientists pursuing careers in diabetes and metabolic investigation. The Duke Endocrinology T32 has a long track record of training successful investigators in diabetes, metabolic bone disease, and other areas of related research. A substantial majority (80% of trainees over the past two cycles of the grant) remain in academic positions at major medical centers across the US and abroad. Most are in positions with substantial research components, supported by federal, foundation, or industry grants, and the remainder have significant teaching responsibilities. The program provides world-class research training opportunities across four domains (basic, translational, clinical, and health services/implementation research) and three cross-cutting areas (diversity, equity, and inclusion; community engagement; inter-center collaboration). Our T32 mentors maintain funded research programs in basic science (e.g., islet biology, mitochondrial function and energetics, metabolic flux, transcriptional regulation of metabolism), preclinical physiology using mouse genetic models, clinical physiology in humans (e.g., insulin secretion, incretin action, exercise and metabolism, bariatric surgery), clinical outcomes research (e.g., clinical trials and epidemiology), and health services and implementation research (e.g., care delivery innovations in diabetes and weight management). Trainees choose primary mentors and mentoring teams, but also have access to the full breadth of our T32 faculty cohort through collaborations, didactic teaching and seminars. Training focuses on identifying important research questions, formulating incisive hypotheses, and designing straightforward but dispositive experiments; technical and analytic proficiency will also be stressed. Importantly, trainees will be challenged to develop their communication skills, both for oral and written communication, with an emphasis on grant writing. Individuals completing the program will be well- positioned to obtain career development awards to support their continued growth as independent investigators, and will be able to translate their research into significant clinical advances.