DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the Institutional NRSA at Johns Hopkins University is to train pediatric residents and fellows to become successful junior faculty whose primary research interest is in the diagnosis, pathogenesis and treatment of genetic and acquired disorders in children. The program recruits and trains individuals to use the most modem techniques in genetics, genomics, molecular biology and the principles of clinical research to address, pathogenesis, diagnoses, and therapy for pediatric disease. With the completion of the human genome sequence, a new challenge will be for pediatric researchers to address questions regarding multiple genes and the function of their encoded proteins. The researchers of the next generation will try to understand how multiple proteins function in pathways and how these pathways interact with the environment subsequently leading to human phenotypes, which often vary among individuals. It is our goal to provide young academic pediatricians with the training necessary in molecular and cell biology and in genomic sciences to improve child health. The program will utilize as mentors a variety of investigators both in clinical and basic science departments who are well versed in training young clinician scientists. The training program with offer three possible tracks; a program that integrates the pediatric residency training experience with a dedicated research year and subsequent pediatric subspecialty fellowship research experience (Track A), a two year research fellowship program following the completion of the first year of a clinical pediatric subspecialty fellowship (Track B), and an extended three year research fellowship (Track C). A formal curriculum that combines core courses, required for all trainees, in Responsible Conduct of Research, Investigator Training in Animal Use, and Maturation into a Independent Scientist are combined where appropriate for the individual trainee with a variety of technical courses (bioinformatics, genomics, principles of clinical research, and Graduate Training in Clinical Investigation). In addition to the laboratories of their mentors, the environment of the program includes additional resources including a NIH-funded Pediatric Clinical Research Unit (inpatient and outpatient), Genetics Core Facility for DNA sequencing and genetic linkage mapping, Transgenic Animal Facility, Core Microscopy and Mass Spectrometry Facilities, and collaborative individual investigator research programs which in the pediatric subspecialties alone include more than 60 million dollars of NIH-funded total direct costs.