Trauma and Inflammation
Research Training Fellowship
Division of Surgical Research, Department of SurgeryRhode Island Hospital, Lifespan
Brown Medical School
Trauma
Today trauma continues to be a leading cause of death and disability in the USA. As such, it still presents a substantial challenge to basic scientists and clinicians dedicated to understanding its pathophysiology and applying this understanding to improving patient outcome.The study of trauma provides an excellent focal point for the training of clinician- and basic-scientists. This is so because major injury initiates a variety of interrelated response cascades that impact on most organ systems. In trauma disease, alterations in cardiovascular and neural responses, hormonal status, immune capacity, wound healing, etc. present ample opportunities for investigation. This complex spectrum of morbidity associated with major trauma makes it an exceptionally rich area for multidisciplinary research.
The availability of a variety of animal, cellular and molecular models for specific alterations occurring in injured patients allows for its study in the basic science laboratory. However, the accelerating rate of development in cellular and molecular biology brings with it the risk over-specialization and compartmentalization of knowledge. Therefore, the successful translation of fundamental findings into improved therapeutics will depend upon fluid communication between basic science investigators and clinicians.
The capacity of well trained individuals to simultaneously think as scientists and act as clinicians provides the most rapid and efficient path for the identification of issues for investigation and for the generation of cutting edge therapies.
