Training: METP

The METP has a highly successful record in achieving its stated goal: the training of individuals for careers in molecular endocrinology-related research. More than 200 pre- and postdoctoral that have been supported by the METP over the duration of the program. Many have gone on to obtain academic positions, work in biotech/pharmaceutical industries, hold technical positions in research laboratories, pursue clinical practice, teach, go into business, or work as science writers, government researchers, university administrators, or as non-governmental science or health agency staff.

Welcome

Welcome to the website for the Vanderbilt Molecular Endocrinology Training Program (METP). Molecular endocrinology includes ligand-receptor interactions, signal generation and transduction, the molecular actions of intracellular signals, and the cellular and physiological consequences of hormone action. Vanderbilt has a long tradition of excellent research in these areas. Indeed, some of the important fundamental concepts were established here: cAMP as a second messenger, Earl Sutherland; growth factor receptors as tyrosine kinases, Stanley Cohen; the regulation of glucose uptake by insulin, C.R. Park and Tetsuro Kono. Sutherland and Cohen both won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries.

The field of molecular endocrinology is clearly of central relevance to multiple human diseases, most notably obesity and diabetes. Continued progress towards understanding and curing these and many other diseases requires that the next generation of scientists be given the knowledge and skills to perform independent research. Providing this training is the goal of the METP.

The METP supports eight pre-doctoral and four post-doctoral trainees each year. Funding covers the cost of stipends, health care and travel to attend appropriate research meetings. For pre-doctoral trainees funding also covers the cost of tuition.