The Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh seeks two (2) postdoctoral scholars for our NHLBI-funded T32 Cardiothoracic Surgery Research Training Program. Our program is led by Program Director James Luketich MD- Department Chair, Co-Program Directors Julie Phillippi PhD- Vice Chair for Cardiac Research and Director of Postdoctoral Research, and David Vorp PhD- Vice Dean for Research, Swanson School of Engineering, and Associate Directors Vera Donnenberg PhD and Matthew Schuchert MD- Director of the Six Year Integrated Thoracic Surgery Residency Program. The goal of this training program is to populate a diverse pool of future academic cardiothoracic surgeon scientists. The program includes two years of dedicated research training guided by a team of mentors including cardiothoracic surgeon scientists and PhD scientists and engineers. T32 faculty mentors have active research programs, strong track records in obtaining extramural funding, and experience in successfully mentoring cardiothoracic surgeon scientists.

The program provides a stipend commensurate with years of training since obtaining a doctoral degree, and educational support (e.g., tuition support for degree-seeking candidates) and project support.

Program Details: For additional program details, list of mentors, and other information, please visit our training grants website and click on Search Training Grants By Grant using the keyword “cardiothoracic surgery”.

How to apply: Prospective applicants are encouraged to e-mail a Letter of Interest to the attention of Dr. Julie Phillippi (Co-Program Director): [email protected]

Questions about this opportunity may also be directed to Dr. Phillippi.

Applications will be reviewed and appointment decisions made by the Program Directors.

Qualifications or Expectations:

• Be a U.S. Citizen or non-citizen national of the United States, or lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence
• Have earned an MD, MD/PhD, DO, or MBBS
• Possess a strong interest in pursuing a career as a cardiothoracic surgeon scientist
• Postdoctoral scholars will be expected to commit a minimum of two years of research training in this T32 program. Trainees may be appointed for up to 1 additional year, pending open position availability
• Will have completed at least two years of post-graduate clinical training in a Cardiothoracic Surgery, General Surgery, or Vascular Surgery residency program by the time of T32 appointment

Opportunities Available:

• Trainees will carry out career development activities aimed toward leading collaborative teams of interdisciplinary experts.
• Trainees will receive specialized leadership training toward establishing independent research programs to address problems in cardiothoracic surgery.

Duties or Responsibilities:

• Each trainee will form a mentoring team consisting of a primary mentor, secondary mentor, and career development advisor.
• Optional: Trainees may also choose to apply and enroll in a master’s degree program at the University of Pittsburgh (e.g., MS Programs in Bioengineering, Biomedical Sciences, Biomedical Informatics, Computational Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Biostatistics, Human Genetics, Epidemiology, Community Health Sciences, Multi-disciplinary Public Health, or Clinical Research).
• T32 trainees will undertake a curated set of didactic workshops and coursework tailored to their specific training and project needs. These include training in 6 Core Areas including: 1) Responsible Conduct of Research; 2) Methods for Enhancing Reproducibility; 3) Cardiothoracic Surgery topics; 4) Human Subjects Research; 5) Grant Proposal Development; and 6) Innovation, Intellectual Property, and Commercialization.
• Trainees will be expected to conduct an independent research project, publish findings in scientific and/or clinical journals, and present at external conferences.
• Trainees will choose one of three potential training tracks including Disease Pathophysiology, Clinical and Population Studies, or Diagnostic and Surgical Innovation to carry out research project(s) aimed to address problems in cardiothoracic surgery.

For more info about this position, visit:https://www.traininggrants.pitt.edu/portal/TrainingGrantSearch.aspx