DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application seeks support for our competing renewal application for the Multidisciplinary K12 Urologic Research (KURe) Career Development Program to the Scott Department of Urology and the Center for Reproductive Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. The research emphasis of this program is in the areas pediatric urology/genitourinary development, steroid hormone action, stem cells genetics and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). The training faculty includes 7 Ph.D/M.D., Ph.D. faculty and11 M.D.s. Dr. Lamb will serve as both the Program Director and the Administrative Director of the KURe career development program. Dr. Boone will serve as co-Director. Drs. Lipshultz, Cunningham, Gonzales, Khera, Roth, Janzen will ensure the M.D. trainees are optimally trained in the urologic subspecialty areas of men's health and pediatric urology. The major research areas in the program include: genetics and genomics of genitourinary developmental defects, cell biology, steroid hormone receptors, male reproductive tract biology, genetics, cell cycle control, stem cells, gene therapy and LUTS. The trainees will be M.D. and Ph.D. junior faculty members at Baylor College of Medicine. Our program attracts highly qualified trainees who seek intensive and substantial research training in urology research with an emphasis on clinical translation. We have a defined recruitment plan that emphasizes the recruitment of women and minorities. The strengths of the training environment include highly respected, well-funded, experienced faculty, the high ranking national ranking for NIH funding of a Urology/Cell Biology/Genetics/Pathology departments, a structured mentoring program with required coursework, a cell biology graduate program with relevant course work and depth in both cell biology and genetics. Most importantly, we have a strong track record of training successful physician scientists. Our long- term goal is to train these young investigators to successfully compete for peer-reviewed funding and eventually to increase basic and translational research efforts in men's reproductive health research.

PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This KURe K12 application will train new investigators to become clinical and basic researchers in urologic health issues. This program will offer training in both basic and clinical research to investigators to improve urologic health.