Department of  Medicine

Training Grants

Excellence in research training is one of the Department of Medicine’s defining strengths—and a powerful draw for the most promising young scientists and physician–scientists. Federal training grants form the backbone of our pipeline, providing the resources, mentorship, and structure needed to cultivate leaders who will shape the future of medicine. Thanks to our deep commitment to this mission, our divisions and institutes consistently earn competitive federal awards that support transformative research training across disciplines.

NRSA T32 and TL1 Training Grants

The Department leads several NIH-funded T32 and TL1 programs spanning a wide range of high-impact research areas, including:

Beyond these institutional training grants, many of our junior investigators secure individual NRSA F32s and foundation fellowship awards under the guidance of our senior faculty, whose mentorship is integral to early-career success.

R38 Resident Research Training

Through the Pittsburgh Innovation in Collaborative Training of Residents (PICTOR) Alliance, a partnership with the Departments of Pathology, Pediatrics, and Surgery, we prepare residents for careers as physician–scientists through a prestigious NIH R38 grant. The program provides protected research time during residency, enabling trainees to pursue basic, translational, or clinical research in cardiovascular, lung, sleep, and blood sciences. Residents work alongside established investigators and gain access to research opportunities spanning the full spectrum, from pediatric to adult medicine, and from health to complex disease.

Career Development Awards for Junior Faculty

The Department invests in the next generation of independent investigators through structured grant-writing courses, mentorship networks, and tailored career development programming. These efforts have yielded impressive results: more than 40 Department of Medicine faculty currently hold Career Development Awards through the NIH (K-series awards), VA, or foundations.

Central to this success is the Institute for Clinical Research Education (ICRE), Pitt’s flagship hub for clinical and translational research training and home to the Research Education and Career Development Core of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). The ICRE offers a range of degree and certificate programs (including MS, PhD, and Medical Education tracks) as well as nationally recognized training pathways such as the TL1, KL2, and K12 Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Scholars Program.