The overall goal of the MGH research training program in burns and trauma is to train physicians and scientists with the cross-disciplinary skills needed to conduct future independent research in the field. The intent of this NRSA T32 program is to help insure that a diverse and highly trained workforce is available to assume leadership roles related to the United States Federal government’s biomedical research agenda.

Training Program Design

The MGH burns and trauma research training program consists of a curriculum of study and research experiences necessary to provide high-quality research training. The training program is particularly geared towards the postdoctoral training of physicians who may have extensive clinical training but limited research experience.

Over the decades, the training program has taken advantage of considerable resources organized to focus didactic instruction in formal basic science courses given at the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Formal academic classes are considered an essential component of the research training. Although commitments to advanced degrees are uncommon, several trainees have received doctoral and master’s degrees, and this opportunity remains an important component of the training program.

In addition to the formal courses, specialized conferences, seminars, and tutorials at MGH provide a background in the clinical problems of injury care. The trainees participate in regular seminars, clinical conferences, research seminars, and the Clinical Research Coordinating Committee meetings for information exchange and data presentation. Tutorials in patient problems and treatment deficiencies are provided to insure that all trainees have a continuing exposure to the clinical issues facing injured patients. These tutorials allow the trainees to obtain firsthand information concerning the current problems posed by injury. These tutorials focus the fellows' research on the most important problems facing clinical medicine.

Since 1995, the training program has been closely coordinated with training efforts in the "Biomedical Engineering Research and Education (BERE) Program for Physician Fellows" under the auspices of the MGH Center for Engineering in Medicine (CEM). The trainees have participated in the BERE Program - a didactic program to teach physicians principles of the physical, quantitative and engineering sciences and for the support of five fellows each year. The CEM has specific educational and research programs; holds regular research seminars and membership meetings; promotes information exchange through symposia, workshops, and courses; stimulates the generation of new applied research and technology development thrusts; and, most importantly, fosters interdisciplinary training of postdoctoral MD and PhD fellows, and graduate students in biomedical engineering. One of the most desired components of the BERE Program by the fellows is the three-week intensive laboratory experience. This lab is now offered as a formal course at Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology under the listing of “HST 505 Laboratory in Molecular and Cellular Sciences.”

The varied individual and collaborative research and teaching efforts fall under two major interdisciplinary research thrusts:
  1. alterations in metabolism produced by injury
  2. bioengineering applications in the treatment of injury, including tissue engineering and development of artificial organs
These collaborative and interdisciplinary activities are supplemented by substantially-developed core facilities with the MGH Burn Research Center, which provides very substantial “hands-on” teaching and training resources for the trainees. Upon completion of the training program, the fellows are expected not only to have the theoretical background but also the technical research skills necessary to conduct independent research and teach educational programs. The success of the current program may be measured by the fact that the past trainees of our program are presently conducting research and teaching programs related to their training in our program.

Program Direction

The program maintains faculty members (physicians, scientists and engineers) who are knowledgeable about the clinical problems of burn and trauma care and direct ongoing successful research programs pertinent to burns and trauma. The overall direction, management and administration of the research training program in burns and trauma is led by Ronald G. Tompkins, M.D., Sc.D. (Principal Investigator) and Martin L. Yarmush, M.D., Ph.D. (Program Director).

Dr. Tompkins is the John Francis Burke Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, Chief of the Burn Service at MGH, and Chief of Staff at SHC in Boston. As the principal investigator of the MGH Burn Research Center Grant and the Large-Scale Collaborative Research Award “Inflammation and the Host Response to Injury”, Dr. Tompkins has successfully received competitive outside funding to support his ongoing research interests, which include tissue engineering and artificial organs development (artificial liver and skin), metabolism, and physiological transport in injury (atherosclerosis, gastrointestinal permeability, infections, and tumors).

Dr. Yarmush is the Helen Andrus Benedict Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for Engineering in Medicine at MGH. Dr. Yarmush's credentials in science, engineering, and medicine serve as an excellent foundation as the Program Director.

The principal investigator and program director are supported by the Research Training Executive Committee, comprised of Drs. Tompkins, Yarmush, Toner, and Fischman. The committee is charged to:
  1. advise the principal investigator and program director regarding the operation of the program
  2. define a basic curriculum for each trainee
  3. develop and carry out recruitment plans
  4. review applications for appointment to the program
  5. assign advisors for students who have not chosen a trainer
  6. oversee the selection and quality of the research seminar series
  7. review individual training programs and progress
  8. oversee the interactions between the NIH-sponsored research training program and the BERE and CEM training programs
Faculty members and trainees have formal input into the training program through the Research Training Executive Committee.

Copyright 2004-2007 Massachusetts General Hospital

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