Molecular Biophysics Training Grant

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is a request for support of the Northwestern University pre-doctoral training program in Molecular Biophysics. Past support from the training grant has played a major role in stimulating interdisciplinary interactions between faculty, students and post-doctoral fellows within five participating departments in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, the McCormick School of Engineering and the Feinberg School of Medicine. The hiring of many faculty in biology, chemistry and engineering departments with research interests in molecular biophysics has generated a highly-interactive research environment focused on the application of quantitative physical methods and approaches to problems of macromolecular structure and function. The Biophysics Training Program benefits from access to state-of-the-art equipment facilities, including instrumentation within the Keck Biophysics Facility, two beamlines for macromolecular crystallography at the Advanced Photon Source and other key research resources. The training program has a core biophysics curriculum to be followed by students entering through each of the participating graduate programs, providing a common didactic experience to students with diverse educational backgrounds. Advanced graduate-level courses in key research areas of the program, such as structural biology are central to the training experience. Students also participate in monthly Biophysics Club and Journal Club meetings, and attend a Biophysics Seminar Series as part of the program. Support for biophysics students is requested for the 2nd-4th years of graduate education, enhancing the Training Program role in mentoring students through key stages of their graduate studies. The training of graduate students in Biophysics provides them a quantitative foundation for studying biological processes relevant to a wide range of public health issues. Biophysical methods are centrally important in modern drug discovery and design, and graduate students trained in these methods are well positioned to further our understanding and intervention in a wide range of human diseases.