This program evolved from a 30-year, longstanding T32 training program at WUSTL titled “Nutrition-Behavioral Cardiovascular Disease Prevention.” The original focus of the program was on improving ways to promote nutrition and nutrition practices in the prevention of CVD, and successfully trained both PhD and MD postdoctoral candidates for more than 30 years, and predoctoral students since 2002.

From this strong foundation, we have created a more innovative training program focused on finding novel ways of framing, understanding, and addressing obesity and CVD, incorporating and mobilizing all relevant scientific disciplines – building true transdisciplinary science.

Training program structure

The Director, Co-Director, and mentors work with trainees to develop a training plan that includes:

  1. Collaborative mentoring
  2. Didactic and professional development training tailored to trainees’ individual needs
  3. Design and implementation of translational research projects, grant application development, manuscript development and publishing, and opportunities for presentations based on program expectations

Training program goals

  1. Mentor and educate transdisciplinary predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows to ensure they succeed as independent scientists in obesity and CVD capable of working within and leading transdisciplinary research teams
  2. Provide trainees with primary mentoring from highly-qualified, senior obesity/CVD researchers and enhance the trainees’ experiences with guidance from senior co-mentors in successful translational research programs that extend and inform the traditional scope of obesity/CVD research
  3. Provide training in the ethical and socially responsible conduct of obesity and CVD research across the lifespan including with vulnerable and underserved populations