Training in Vaccine & Immune Therapeutics

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In response to the stated NIAID growing need for expertise in the area of vaccine research and development, the medical research community at the University of Pennsylvania proposes to establish a training program in Vaccines and Immune Therapeutics. The University Campus has an important history of contribution to vaccine discovery, development and testing of many currently licensed vaccines and has developed an important program to share this expertise with trainees. Trainers are drawn from the Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania, as well as the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, which are institutions located contiguously on the University of Pennsylvania campus. The training program would initially support 3 students among a pool of Ph.D or MD/Ph.D or V.M.D./Ph.D candidates, as well as 1 post doctoral fellow. This application would allow the trainees to train in one of 21 laboratories directed by highly motivated Principal Investigators who have established records in training in important areas of Vaccine and Immune Therapy research. The trainers associated with this T32 application were selected based on their well established record of accomplishment in Vaccine/Immune Therapy-related research as evidenced by their reputations, strong publication records and grant funding, as well as a strong group history of minority training and recruitment and strong reviews for participation in student training. This training program will be part of the newly defined graduate training program in Gene Therapy and Vaccines (GTV), which is one of the 6 programs in the Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Program (CAMB). The affiliation with CAMB, the largest biomedical graduate training program at the University of Pennsylvania, will facilitate student training and stability on the campus. Furthermore a unique externship relationship with industry allows students and postdoctoral trainees to experience training at some of the nations elite company vaccine settings in a highly formalized manner. The GTV training program has formal mechanisms to monitor trainees' progress both during and after their training grant support. Specialized courses have been developed and are in place to ensure significant grounding in Vaccines and Immune Therapy. An exceptional group of faculty has been assembled to assist in this process. Importantly, the training program has formal mechanisms to monitor trainers and to ensure a high level of accomplishment for trainees and faculty alike.