Training in Molecular Virology and Viral Pathogenesis

描述(申请人提供)：病毒导致多种人类疾病。病毒也有助于外源基因的表达，而外源基因作为治疗人类遗传病和癌症治疗的载体尤其有用。培养一批受过病毒学培训的科学家对于充分处理未来的公共卫生问题至关重要。这些领域包括生物防御和新出现的病毒。这笔培训补助金旨在帮助满足这一需求。爱荷华大学的十名对病毒免疫学、分子病毒学、病毒发病机制和使用病毒载体的基因治疗感兴趣的参与教员致力于培养博士前学生。来自微生物学系和遗传学、免疫学和分子生物学跨学科博士项目的病毒学博士前实习生将根据他们的本科生和研究生学术成绩、GRE成绩和他们的研究潜力被选为支持对象。受训者将参加一项培训计划，包括研究、课程作业、研讨会、杂志俱乐部，以及与海伦·C·莱维特病毒发病和疾病中心一起举行的务虚会。该计划的目标是1)鼓励参与的教职员工之间的进一步合作；2)促进具有不同病毒学领域专业知识的科学家和受训人员之间的讨论；3)监督受训人员的进度，以便最大限度地提高学习和生产力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Viruses cause a diverse group of human illnesses. Viruses are also useful for expression of foreign genes which are particularly useful as vectors for the treatment of human genetic diseases and in cancer therapy. The development of a pool of scientists trained in virology is crucial to adequately deal with future public health problems. These include the areas of biodefense and emerging viruses. This training grant is intended to help meet this need. Ten participating faculty at The University of Iowa with interests in viral immunology, molecular virology, viral pathogenesis, and gene therapy using virus vectors are committed to training predoctoral students. Predoctoral trainees in virology from the Department of Microbiology and the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs in Genetics, Immunology and Molecular Biology will be selected for support based on their undergraduate and graduate academic records, their GRE scores, and their research potential. The trainees will participate in a training plan including research, coursework, seminars, journal clubs, and retreats in conjunction with the Helen C. Levitt Center for Viral Pathogenesis and Disease. The program goals are to 1) encourage further collaborations between the participating faculty members; 2) foster discussions between scientists and trainees with expertise in different areas of virology and 3) monitor the progress of trainees so that learning and productivity will be maximized.