Training Grant Pediatric Infectious Diseases: Viral Infections in Children

描述（由申请人提供）：导致儿童发病率和死亡率的传染病谱在上个世纪发生了相当大的变化。在抗生素和疫苗出现之前，白喉、百日咳和破伤风等传染病是主要杀手，现在即使在世界发展中地区也基本上看不到。对主要影响婴儿和儿童的细菌性病原体（如肺炎链球菌和流感嗜血杆菌）进行有效和广泛的预防和治疗，已使人们认识到病毒感染是儿童发病和死亡的主要原因。恶性肿瘤和自身免疫性疾病的免疫抑制治疗的进展加剧了病毒病原体的作用，这使得宿主容易受到相对良性的病毒感染。令人惊讶的是，只有很少的抗病毒药物，对病毒发病机制和宿主对病毒病原体的反应的了解有限，特别是在儿童中。在发展中国家，可用的抗病毒药物很少，现有的疫苗，如针对麻疹和乙型肝炎的疫苗，没有广泛使用，艾滋病毒大流行导致全球每年有100万儿童感染艾滋病毒，并造成1 500万孤儿。显然需要解决儿童病毒感染的识别、治疗和预防问题。这项培训补助金的目的是为儿科传染病领域的受训者提供严格的准备，以便在国内和国际环境中发展学术事业，重点是儿童病毒感染。每年将选择一名博士后儿科传染病培训生参加为期三年的培训计划，尽管仅要求支持最后两年的研究。虽然不是授予学位的课程，但有必修课程，并且鼓励注册斯坦福大学流行病学硕士课程和微生物学与免疫学系的课程。该项目是基于斯坦福大学儿科传染病科自1978年成立以来在培养全国知名学者和研究人员方面取得的成功。其结构是允许学员与来自医学系、微生物学和免疫学以及病理学的导师以及来自津巴布韦大学、加州大学伯克利分校公共卫生学院和墨西哥城自治大学和婴儿医院的合作者一起，从基础科学、转化和流行病学研究方向中进行选择，目的是研究儿童病毒病原体的发病机制和宿主反应。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The spectrum of infectious diseases contributing to pediatric morbidity and mortality has evolved considerably over the last century. Infections such as diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, now largely unseen even in developing areas of the world, were major killers before the advent of antibiotics and vaccines. Effective and widespread prevention and treatment of bacterial pathogens primarily affecting infants and children, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae and Hemophilus influenzae, have resulted in the recognition of viral infections as prominent causes of pediatric morbidity and mortality. The role of viral pathogens is exacerbated by advances in immunosuppressive therapy for malignancies and autoimmune disorders, which render the host susceptible to relatively benign viral infections. Surprisingly, there is only a small armamentarium of antiviral agents and limited understanding of viral pathogenesis and host responses to viral pathogens, especially among children. In the developing world, few antiviral agents are available, established vaccines such as those directed against measles and hepatitis B are not widely available, and the HIV pandemic has resulted in >300,000 HIV-infected children/year and 15 million orphans globally. There is a clear need to address the identification, treatment and prevention of viral infections in children. The purpose of this training grant is to provide rigorous preparation for trainees in pediatric infectious diseases to develop academic careers, in the domestic and international setting, with a focus on viral infections in children. One postdoctoral Pediatric Infectious Diseases trainee per year will be selected to participate in the three year training program, although support is only requested for the last two research years. Although not a degree-granting program, there is a required curriculum, and enrollment in courses offered in the Master's of Epidemiology program and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University is encouraged. The program is based on the success of the Stanford University Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases since its inception in 1978 in producing nationally known scholars and researchers. It is structured to allow trainees to choose from basic science, translational, and epidemiological research tracks with mentors from the Departments of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, and Pathology, and with collaborators from the University of Zimbabwe, the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, and the Universidad Autonoma and Hospital Infantil in Mexico City, with the goal of studying pathogenesis and host response to viral pathogens in children. RELEVANCE: This grant will train Pediatric Infectious Diseases fellows to become domestic and international academic researchers with a focus on identification, prevention and treatment of viral infections of children.