Under the leadership of PI and Program Director Dr. Andrew McCulloch, Dr. Karen Christman, and Dr. Geert Schmid-Schoenbein, this new T32 creates a novel program in bioengineering predoctoral training in cardiopulmonary science and technology. It takes advantage of UC San Diego’s leadership as a top-ranked bioengineering doctoral program focused on basic research and technology development together with world-leading NHLBI-supported basic and clinical science in cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary disease and healthcare.

This is the only training program on campus to provide bioengineering, predoctoral students with interdisciplinary, co-mentored training to apply four key technology themes to basic and translational problems in cardiac, vascular, blood, and lung health. The faculty growth has allowed us to focus the academic theme of this training program on new research and development in four key areas: biomechanics and mechanobiology; biomaterials, cell and tissue engineering; computational and systems biology; and imaging and biophotonics. Engineering approaches at the interfaces between these four areas will be applied by trainees to basic science and translational applications in cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary research that includes new areas such as pulmonary hypertension, remote monitoring, heart valve and congenital heart diseases, neurovascular injury, metabolic diseases and infectious disease.

The goals of this new training program are aligned with the NHLBI’s strategic vision with a focus on training the next-generation interdisciplinary research workforce skilled at developing and using engineering technologies and analysis for basic and translational research that improves understanding, prevention, and treatment of cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary diseases. Trainees will be chosen from predoctoral candidates admitted to the highly ranked and competitive Bioengineering doctoral program. Selected trainees will take courses on cardiovascular biology and engineering technologies specific to the program, have a clinical immersion experience, and conduct laboratory research in cardiovascular science with interdisciplinary co-mentors.

The overall philosophy will be to provide trainee-centered, co-mentored training in applying rigorous, quantitative, and integrative engineering approaches to important interdisciplinary problems in cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary science. This approach also reflects new bioengineering research directions prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the rapid adoption of machine learning by many program faculty, and the opening of a new School of Public Health in 2020. Mentor training will be required of all participating faculty.

This grant will ensure we train the next generation of diverse bioengineering scientists to be leaders in innovative cardiovascular research and technology development to advance healthcare delivery and improve health outcomes.