The Postgraduate Research Training Grant in Dermatology at Vanderbilt University and its Affiliated Hospitals emphasizes the development of research skills relevant to human skin diseases by MD, PhD and MD/PhD candidates. The goal of this program is to develop the future scientific and academic base of skin biology and more specifically, to strengthen the core of the academic Dermatology research community. Two postdoctoral positions per year are requested in this competitive renewal application to continue the training cycle already in progress and to fund future candidates. This renewal names Dr. George Stricklin as Program Director; he, with the assistance of Drs. King, Nanney, Richmond, and Gates will recruit and evaluate candidates for inclusion in this program. An extended faculty network has been constructed to broaden the breadth of candidates available to this program and also to provide a diverse yet highly qualified training experience. The physical proximity of the facilities and the long established collaboration of the training staff foster excellent interactions among the trainees, faculty and collaborators. The recent funding of a Skin Diseases Research Core Center at Vanderbilt will further synergize cooperative ventures in skin-related research thereby enhancing the value of this training program. The research expertise of our faculty includes the biology and biochemistry of membrane receptors, signal transduction, growth factors and connective tissue proteins. This expertise is applied to problems of wound healing, neoplasia and aging. The primary facilities to be used include the laboratories and clinics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Nashville DVA Medical Center.