RESEARCH TRAINING IN PHYSIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION TO STRESS

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DESCRIPTION: (provided by applicant) The predoctoral training program entitled "Research Training in Physiological Adaptations to Stress" during its first funding period, has attracted excellent students and the five graduates of the program have obtained first rate postdoctoral positions or positions in industry. Sixty percent of the NIH funded slots are currently filled with minority students. Based on this success, we seek continued support of the program for another five years. Physiological adaptations to stress encompass a wide range of responses from alterations of molecular structure affecting cellular metabolism to organismal remodeling. Adaptations may be positive, such as those brought about by increased participation in regular physical activity, or they may have pathological sequelae such as hypermetabolic responses to trauma. Our predoctoral training program takes advantage of the existing, internationally recognized strengths of faculty located at the College of Medicine at the Hershey Campus and within several departments at the University Park campus of The Pennsylvania State University. The goal of the ongoing training program is to develop scientists with an ability to generate, integrate, and apply knowledge gathered by multiple approaches to the study of stress physiology. The training program will continue to be housed in the Intercollege Graduate Program in Physiology, which has a thirty-five year history of interdisciplinary graduate student education. Faculty members of the training program are committed to enhancing diversity through minority recruitment and to promoting ethics in research. The training program seeks support for 8 predoctoral trainees per year whose proficiency to integrate information gathered at many levels of inquiry will be developed by a rigorous curriculum, structured research experiences and dedicated mentorship. A core course has been developed specifically for this program, "Physiological Adaptations to Stress and continues to serve as an early introduction to the goals of this training program. A rich academic environment is provided at both campuses with strong research support and institutional commitment. The Pennsylvania State University will continue to provide four full assistantships as a match for this training grant. Students who complete their training through this program will not only have a thorough knowledge of laboratory techniques ranging from molecular to whole organism, but they will also have the capacity to understand and synthesize complex information resulting from research examining the physiological adaptations to stress.