Pre-Doctoral Training in Obesity-Related Research

• Be a doctoral student in good standing from any graduate program at UAB.
• Have a research emphasis on obesity, particularly as it relates to cardiovascular diseases.
• Be midway through your first year in a doctoral program and prepared to enter your second year of training in August.
• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
• Express a long-term plan and expectation to work as an independent investigator in obesity research.
• Commit to meet all obligations of the training program.

1. The student may approach a potential mentor, a mentor may ask a student about creating a research relationship, or either student or mentor may seek guidance from the program directors to be matched with a potentially interested counterpart.
2. The student and mentor apply for entry into the program together and form the full mentoring team according to the requirement for disciplinary domain diversity.
3. Applications packets are due by 5 p.m. Monday, June 1, 2026, and must include:
   1. Training goals and research objectives. Together, the student and mentor must prepare a document outlining their training goals and research objectives. This document should include a statement of support from the mentor regarding their willingness to work with the trainee and their evaluation of the trainee’s potential (two-page limit).
   2. Student’s curriculum vitae.
   3. Two letters of reference addressed to the T32 program directors. The letters should be from people who know the applicant (not from the proposed mentor) and can accurately comment on their qualifications for this program.
   4. A completed application.
   5. Obligations and Program Requirements Acceptance document signed by the student, mentor, and the student’s PhD program director.
4. Send all of these materials to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 5 p.m. June 1, 2026.

Fellows must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

NRSA funding, which includes both T32 support and F31 support (but not other sources, e.g., an R01) can be used to support pre-doctoral fellows for a maximum of five years.

Pre-doctoral fellows should have completed their first year of doctoral studies before beginning our program. We expect that most students will be able to complete their Ph.D. within four years of joining our T32; therefore, it is our custom to provide four years of funding.

Although the DNS T32 is committed to providing pre-doctoral students four years of funding, appointment letters are provided one year at a time, according to the rules of the students’ departments. It is expected that pre-doctoral students’ progress will be evaluated continuously through meetings with the students’ mentoring teams and evaluated every year by the DNS T32 leadership.

The T32 is obesity specific with an emphasis on some aspects of heart and vascular, lung, and blood diseases. A trainee’s research during the program must have a connection to obesity and the emphasis of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

The T32 is a program. This is in contrast to pre-doctoral students whose duties are assigned and overseen by a single mentor. The T32 has benefits, procedures, and obligations that apply to all trainees and mentors.

In this program, trainees spend roughly 80–85% of their (non-course) time working with their mentors on obesity-related projects that they and their mentors have developed and that are associated with their dissertation research. The remaining 15–20% of their time is spent on programmatic activities. These programmatic activities include attending the weekly NORC seminar, weekly Journal Club, and NORC workshops hosted throughout the year. Trainees also attend career development events covering topics such as responsible conduct of research, job interview skills, how to review a paper, how to write grant proposals, and other training activities. All trainees are expected to attend the DNS annual retreat.

One benefit of the program is the availability of additional mentoring or training that an individual mentor may not be able to provide. The program can also provide input or assistance should a problem arise between the mentor and trainee. If a conflict does arise, it is Dr. Gower’s responsibility to meet with the mentor and trainee, first individually and then together, if appropriate. Typically, challenges can be resolved at that level. If Dr. Gower is the mentor with whom there is a conflict, Drs. Chandler-Laney (associate director for professional and career development) and Rogers (docent for clinical science) will serve as moderators. In the event that the trainee is not satisfied with how the program directors (Gower, Chandler-Laney, Rogers) manage the situation, the matter can be addressed through the Graduate School’s formal process.

A second benefit of the program is access to the NORC and DRC. These centers are available to the T32, and the program directors will connect trainees with the investigators and resources they need to be successful.

A standard T32 mentoring team includes three individuals. In rare cases, an additional mentor may be included. One of the three mentors will be designated the primary mentor and take primary responsibility for mentoring the trainee. The primary mentor must be one of the Primary Mentors identified below. The remaining two co-mentors can be selected from the Primary Mentor list or the Secondary Mentor list below. Other UAB faculty not on the mentor list may be considered for the mentoring team on a case-by-case basis.

One member of the mentoring team must have expertise in the quantitative domain (e.g., statistics, computer science, physics), one must have expertise in the behavioral sciences (e.g., psychology, sociology), and one must have expertise in the biomedical realm (e.g., medicine, physiology, genetics). It is up to the applicant and primary mentor to make the case that the mentoring team represents these domains.

The mentoring team collectively serves three overarching purposes:

1. To provide a conduit for and supervision in the hands-on research experience that is a fundamental and essential component of the research training. It is the mentor’s responsibility to provide an active research program that allows the trainee to develop skills as an independent investigator and build their curriculum vitae.
2. To provide an interdisciplinary hub and microcosm of the overall interdisciplinary training program. The mentoring team comprises investigators from different disciplinary domains who collectively expose the trainee to different approaches to obesity research and help them partake of, appreciate, and integrate those diverse approaches.
3. To monitor the individual trainee’s progress on a day-to-day basis and ensure that they are fully engaged in the training program activities. While the program directors ensure that the overall program is implemented, the formal offerings are available, and follow-up with individual trainees occurs at least every six months, the mentors are a consistent sounding board and guidepost for our rising scholars.

Primary mentors are scientists who have an active record of independent scholarship in obesity and are considered established investigators. Our criteria for "established" in this program are being at or above the level of associate professor, having a strong record of scholarship and/or having obtained a major nonmentored NIH or NSF grant as a PI for obesity-related research, and having scientific connectivity with other primary mentors.

Secondary mentors are well-established scientists with strong records of competitive grant funding whose research is closely related to the topic of the T32 (usually obesity) but for whom obesity is not their primary focus. Across all categories, both clinical and basic scientists are represented.

Secondary mentors comprise individuals whose work is squarely in the realm of obesity-related research but who do not have a recent track record of NIH or similar competitive funding or do not have an established record of successfully mentoring fellows.

If your student meets all of the eligibility criteria outlined on this page, you may partner with one of the primary mentors named below and apply. The primary mentor will help with the submission. The submitted application must make the case that the project is vital to the field of obesity and that the mentoring you provide will be outstanding.

To be a mentor, you must be a member of the NORC. If you are not already a NORC member, you are welcome to apply for membership. To do so, please send This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. a full CV and a one-paragraph statement of interest. As a NORC member, you may request to be added to the mentor list. Your request will be reviewed, and, if approved, you will be added to the appropriate mentorship category. Primary mentors must be approved by both the NORC and the NIH.

He or she may still apply, but all other things being equal, their application may receive a lower priority than that of a student entering his or her second year.

The trainee-mentor relationship is expected to be close and to involve substantial interaction. Trainees are expected to learn by doing, side-by-side with their mentors, which facilitates mentoring in networking, managing real-life career decisions, balancing work and personal life, and identifying and working through ethical dilemmas.

1. What is my role as a mentor to those I am mentoring?
   1. With your fellow (trainee), create an Individual Training Plan, which encompasses the requirements of the training program and the trainee's individual career goals.
   2. Provide ongoing mentorship in responsible conduct of scientific research.
   3. Provide fellows (trainees) opportunities to publish and ensure that they succeed in pursuing these opportunities.
   4. Provide fellows (trainees) opportunities to participate in grant preparation as training.
   5. Provide an active research program and resources in support of the fellows’ (trainees’) projects.
   6. Provide encouragement and opportunity to move toward independence (especially via grant writing).
   7. Assist in career objectives at conclusion of training.
   8. Provide networking opportunities.
2. What is my role as a mentor specific to the NORC?
   1. Agree to mentor fellows (trainees) in accordance with the requirements of the specific training program.
   2. Participate with NORC leadership in ongoing evaluation of fellows’ (trainees’) meeting of goals.
   3. Complete required paperwork necessary for ongoing renewal of training grants.

1. The primary mentor or a combination of the mentors must agree to pay all applicable tuition and fees not covered by the training grant, unless the primary mentor has made an arrangement with his or her department or school to cover these expenses. Generally, this means all tuition and fees not related to health insurance above the 60% funding level of the training program. Fees related to health insurance are covered at 100% by the T32 program.
2. Additionally, each school or college at UAB requires a minimum level of compensation for pre-doctoral trainees. If the selected student's particular school requires a level of support greater than the portion supplied by the NIH, the mentor (or others, e.g., the mentor’s chair or dean) will be required to supplement the stipend to that level with nonfederal funding.
3. Mentors are encouraged to provide adequate space and equipment for their trainees, in pursuit of their research. If a laptop computer is needed, the trainee and mentor should make that request directly to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

1. Each trainee will receive enough money for one trip per year to a national (occasionally international) meeting to present his or her research while working with the training program. Additional conferences can be requested on a case-by-case basis.
2. Each trainee may request funds for specific software and books needed for research. Such requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Trainees participating in the program come from different departments across the university. Therefore, the first year of doctoral education differs according to the student’s individual program. To provide a baseline of knowledge pertinent to obesity and heart and vascular, lung, and blood diseases, the educational training is based on three categories of courses: Required Non-Recurring, Required-Recurring, and Tailored Dispersion Requirements (see the Obligations of the Training Program).