RESEARCH TRAINING PROGRAM IN ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY

描述

DESCRIPTION This is an application to establish an interdisciplinary reproductive, developmental, and endocrine toxicology training program for the education of 4 predoctoral and 3 postdoctoral candidates in biochemical, cellular and neurobehavioral aspects of reproductive, developmental and endocrine toxicology at the University of Illinois. This program will provide comprehensive training in cellular and molecular toxicology and the broader areas of environmental sciences, including toxicological pathology, fate of xenobiotics in vivo, and risk assessment, and will enable trainees to establish successful careers at other universities, industries, and government research and regulatory activities. This new training program in reproductive, developmental, and endocrine toxicology is an extension of the existing curriculum offered by the Interdisciplinary Environmental Toxicology Program (IETP) established at the University of Illinois in the mid 1980s. Eight of the ten faculty members of the proposed program are members of the IETP. Graduate students will be enrolled in and obtain their degrees from any of the seven participating departments. Predoctoral trainees will spend their first two years completing course work, beginning research projects and preparing for qualifying and preliminary exams. To participate in this training program the students will be required to receive training in general toxicology, biochemistry, molecular biology, reproductive physiology, endocrinology and statistics. By the end of the second year, research will be conducted full time. Formal and informal seminars, a guest speaker program, scientific meeting presentations and preparation of a research grant proposal application will complete the training of the students. The large number of funded projects and the existing collaborations among the preceptors will further increase the research opportunities and interactions of the trainees.