Basic Science
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has an international reputation as a leading research institution and supports more than 1900 research projects annually totaling nearly $200 million dollars in annual research expenditures. On the basis of federal individual research grant support for basic sciences, UT Southwestern is among the top 10 biomedical research institutions in the country. The faculty is among the most distinguished in the world. UT Southwestern is home to four Nobel Laureates, 17 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 19 members of the Institute of Medicine, and 11 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. There are over 300 graduate students earning their Ph.D. degrees and over 90 students obtaining combined M.D. and Ph.D degrees.
A vast array of research opportunities is available in the area of cardiovascular biology, as UT Southwestern currently boasts one of the largest concentration of investigators in this exciting area of science, including: Eric Olson, Ph.D., Masashi Yanagisawa, M.D., Ph.D., Joseph Hill, M.D., and Daniel Garry, M.D., Ph.D. This critical mass has allowed the institution to successfully compete for selection as the first recipient of a Reynolds Foundation Grant, headed by Helen Hobbs, M.D., for research in the cardiovascular sciences that was recently renewed bringing the total funding to $42 million. Additional post-doctoral fellows training in cardiac development, and graduate students obtaining their Ph.D. or M.D., Ph.D. degrees in the laboratories, provide a rich and interactive training environment. Frequent lab meetings, journal clubs and seminars are an integral part of their experience. This effort has resulted in numerous publications representing advances in our understanding of cardiac development and the genetic basis for congenital heart defects.
Clinical Sciences
Training in clinical research involves more than the traditional apprenticeship with an established mentor and performing a research study. The clinician investigator must be trained in research methodology which should include techniques of patient-oriented research, hypothesis generation, study design, and statistical analysis. UT Southwestern has made a major commitment to the development of clinical research at the medical school and has subsequently created the Department of Clinical Sciences. This department is directed by Milton Packer, M.D., an adult cardiologist who is an expert in clinical trials and who has an impressive record for training young investigators.
The mission of the Department is to accelerate and enhance the training and career development of clinical investigators, promote the conduct of high-quality patient-oriented research, develop effective mechanisms to facilitate translational research, and provide a formal mechanism of institutional recognition for clinical scientists.
The following divisions are supported by the Department of Clinical Sciences:
Specific interests of each faculty member are listed on the website.
