Harvard Training Program in Bioinformatics Applied to Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism
Harvard Training Program in Bioinformatics Applied to Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism
Welcome to the Harvard T32 Training Program in Bioinformatics Applied to Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism!
This NIH-funded program aims to train post-doctoral MD, MD-PhD, or PhD investigators with a quantitative background (mathematics, bioinformatics, computational biology or statistics) who have an interest in metabolic disease. The goal is to support junior scientists who wish to apply a rigorous analytical approach to big data in order to solve problems and elucidate unanswered questions of high concern to human metabolic health, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Over the past decade we have witnessed transformative technological and analytical advances which can query biological systems in a global manner, typically across a single axis in the molecular spectrum. The comprehensive study of genes, gene marks, transcripts, proteins, small molecules, and their interactions have generated enormous data sets that reflect a specific metabolic, developmental or tissue state. Increasingly this activity has been feasible in the organism most relevant to disease, the human: when coupled with the rich clinical and phenotyping information available in observational cohorts, clinical trials, or the electronic medical record, key inferences can be made to derive pathophysiological insight.
This type of activity has produced a trove of information relevant to type 2 diabetes, obesity and related metabolic traits. There is an urgent need to attract investigators experienced in mathematics, statistics, computational biology and bioinformatics to the analysis and interpretations of such data, and to equip investigators who have an interest in these phenotypes with the tools and skills required to extract valuable knowledge. In the Harvard T32 Training Program in Bioinformatics Applied to Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, we have assembled a team of accomplished investigators across the Harvard University system and its affiliated hospitals and institutes who have cutting-edge capabilities in each of the pertinent skill sets, and whose track record supports a declared interest in metabolic disease. This training program leverages their complementary expertise by funding selected trainees, providing them with dedicated instruction, and pairing them with faculty mentors who can provide rigorous training in a multidisciplinary setting pertinent to metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Trainees are selected via a competitive process and are matched to two research mentors, one with expertise in bioinformatics and one in diabetes. Research mentors are available from the wider faculty of Harvard University and its affiliated hospitals, as well as the Broad Institute. They can also be nominated by a mentor in either bioinformatics or diabetes/obesity/metabolism who is an independently funded investigator, and who has arranged for a collaborative mentorship structure with a co-mentor in the alternate discipline. Trainees are offered select courses of relevance to their research project(-s), and undertake a multidisciplinary training program tailored to their needs and aspirations. Awards cover salary, travel to professional meetings, and other training-related expenses. Appointments can extend for up to two years.
Per NIH guidelines, applicants must be a citizen or non-citizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time of appointment. Underrepresented minority groups including, but not limited to, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives and Pacific Islanders are strongly encouraged to apply.