Medical College of Wisconsin Cardiovascular Center Appoints Postdoctoral Fellow to T32 Training Program

Milwaukee, December 16, 2019 – The Cardiovascular Center (CVC) at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) has appointed Jing Liu, PhD, as a post-doctoral trainee in the CVC’s T32 postdoctoral training program sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Liu received her Bachelor of Medicine at Peking University and doctorate in pharmacology and nutritional sciences at the University of Kentucky, followed by a fellowship in the laboratory of Kaikobad Irani, MD, a professor in the division of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Iowa.

Her primary mentor is Mingyu Liang, PhD, professor and eminent scholar in the department of physiology and director of the Center of Systems Molecular Medicine at MCW, and co-leader of the CVC’s Hypertension Signature Program. With expertise from her doctoral studies on microRNA-204 (miR-204), Dr. Liu will expand scientific knowledge about the treatment of chronic kidney disease by understanding the underlying mechanisms of how miR-204 prevents renal injury.

“This fellowship will provide a novel opportunity to advance the scientific discovery of an important research problem while enabling me to develop preliminary data for my independent research     proposal,” Dr. Liu said.

Building on excellence in cardiovascular research, the CVC’s T32 postdoctoral training program, “Training in Signature Transdisciplinary Cardiovascular Sciences,” is funded by a $1.6 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that provides support for two new postdoctoral training slots each year. The grant provides up to three years of training for appointed postdoctoral fellows in the CVC with an MD, PhD, PharmD or DO degree. The ultimate goal of this training program is to train the next generation of cardiovascular scientists, including underrepresented minorities, by incorporating broad-based, personalized, supportive and rigorous training opportunities.

Dr. Liu joins four current and former postdoctoral fellows in the CVC’s T32 postdoctoral training program: Pablo Nakagawa, PhD; Moua Yang, PhD; Jennifer Stancill, PhD, and Christine Klemens, PhD.

Ivor Benjamin, MD, professor of medicine and director of the CVC at MCW, and David Gutterman, MD, Northwestern Mutual Professor of Cardiology and senior associate director of the CVC at MCW, are co-directors of the post-doctoral training program, and Mary Sorci-Thomas, PhD, professor of medicine at MCW, is associate director. Complementary support for trainees is provided by a grant given to the CVC by the A. O. Smith Foundation for the A. O. Smith Fellowship Scholars Program, a program designed to support talented cardiovascular researchers and physicians to overcome the barriers that exist in launching and sustaining a successful research career.

About the Medical College of Wisconsin:

With a history dating back to 1893, The Medical College of Wisconsin is dedicated to leadership and excellence in education, patient care, research and community engagement. More than 1,400 students are enrolled in MCW’s medical school and graduate school programs in Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Central Wisconsin. MCW’s School of Pharmacy opened in 2017. A major national research center, MCW is the largest research institution in the Milwaukee metro area and second largest in Wisconsin. In the last ten years, faculty received more than $1.5 billion in external support for research, teaching, training and related purposes. This total includes highly competitive research and training awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Annually, MCW faculty direct or collaborate on more than 3,100 research studies, including clinical trials. Additionally, more than 1,600 physicians provide care in virtually every specialty of medicine for more than $2.8 million patients annually.

About the Cardiovascular Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin

The Cardiovascular Center, founded in 1992 at the Medical College of Wisconsin, serves more than 160 members from 26 departments and institutes on the Milwaukee Regional Medical Campus and surrounding community as it fulfills its mission to improve cardiovascular health in southeast Wisconsin and beyond through cutting-edge research, cost-efficient and high-quality healthcare delivery, rigorous training of the next generation of diverse cardiovascular scientists, and engaging the community to eliminate disparities in health outcomes. Directed by Ivor Benjamin, MD, over 32,000 square feet of space is dedicated to the center’s laboratories, offices, conference rooms, equipment cores and staff who promote its mission by maintenance of core resources, acquisition and distribution of funds for meritorious cardiovascular research, education of its members, trainees and staff and interaction with the community to understand its needs and alleviate the burden of disease in the heart and blood vessels.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.