Developmental Biology Training Program

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is to renew funding for a training program leading to the Ph.D. degree and providing for professional careers in research and teaching in developmental biology. Support is requested for eight predoctoral positions, within a program that includes approximately 78 graduate students and 45 postdoctoral trainees. The program emphasizes individualized research training under the mentorship of the training faculty. A number of students have co-advisors and research programs that integrate the research expertise in two laboratories, illustrating the collaborative nature of the program. Each predoctoral student is advised by a faculty committee that guides the student through a highly individualized training program; the committee meets at least once every year, in addition to many informal meetings (e.g., when the student presents journal clubs or research seminars), resulting in excellent monitoring of the student's progress and the creation of a supportive and nurturing environment. Sixteen training faculty directly participate in the program. All hold appointments in the Departments of Biology or Chemistry as well as being members in the Institute of Molecular Biology (nine faculty), Institute of Neuroscience (six faculty), or both Institutes (one faculty). The University of Oregon's research institutes provide a close association for laboratories with common interests, facilitating interactive research, and graduate training. The Institutes support shared specialized research facilities - such as the Genomics and Proteomics Center, Monoclonal Antibody Center, and Bio-Optic Center - all staffed with expert personnel who are available to the students for technological training and assistance in experimental design. Involvement of the Institutes in this program provides an interdisciplinary approach to developmental biology that ranges from structural biology/proteomics to computational biology to cell biology and to neuroscience. This breadth of training combines well with the highly focused project-oriented training the students receive in their host laboratories, leading to the training of creative scientists who will be able to develop their own first-rate research programs, thereby strengthening the national resource in developmental biology.