Vision Research Training Grant at the University of Utah

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Project Summary With this application, we propose to continue the Moran Eye Center T32 Vision Research Training Grant (VRTG) ending in 2018. The principle underlying graduate and postdoctoral VRTG education at the University of Utah is that students experience strong interdisciplinary, interdepartmental collaborations that cover both basic research and applied approaches to vision science. Our program offers predoctoral and postdoctoral training in fundamental areas -- molecular biology, electrophysiology, developmental neuroscience, retina connectomics, translational science and visual behavior – that are critical to achieve a successful career in visual neuroscience. The program combines systematic didactic training that focuses on critical thinking, communication skills, and analytic rigor with research training that takes advantage of the core strengths of the Moran Eye Center and the vision research community at the University of Utah: a long-standing, continued track record of excellence in the cutting-edge praxis molecular biology, physiology and connectomics, and the study of human disease. Twenty-three NIH/NEI- or NSF-funded faculty members are aligned in five broad areas of vision research: Molecular Biology/Biochemistry, Cellular and Developmental Science, Ocular Disease/Animal Models, Translational Interventions, and Computational Science. Reflecting the program’s breadth, these areas provide exceptional opportunities to the 44 currently eligible predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees (Table 1). This application requests funding for two predoctoral and two postdoctoral trainees. The program outcomes from the previous period are listed in (Table 8A, 8C). Recent graduates of the Moran Eye Center have been placed in top-notch postdoctoral fellowships (at Indiana University, Bloomington, at UT Southwestern and at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City), and our postdoctoral trainees have published widely and are competing successfully for NIH R01 funding. The renewal builds on coursework that keeps pace with ongoing discoveries in vision research, especially in the recently expanding areas of molecular and genetic models of vision, genomic approaches to disease, and computational data analysis at the University of Utah. The strong track record of the program suggests that trainees from the University of Utah will continue to excel as future leaders in vision research.