Advanced Research Training in Transplantation Immunobiology

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This training grant has been created to increase excellent training of individuals in translational research who will pursue careers in basic and applied immunobiology of transplantation. Transplantation, now recognized as the optimal therapy for patients with many types of end-stage organ failure, is a highly specialized field in which immunology plays a crucial role. Future progress in organ transplantation will require the development of new classes of immunosuppressive agents associated with dramatically less toxicity but equal or greater potency than currently available regimens and the development of accurate methods of immune monitoring to assess immune responsiveness of graft recipients so that individualized immunosuppression regimens can be effectively provided. However, the field of transplantation can only fully advance if a more thorough understanding of the immune response to alloantigens, as well as to the antigens expressed by pathogenic micro-organisms and neoplastic cells, is achieved. At present, short term outcomes are improving, but consistent long term successful outcomes in transplantation are still beyond our reach. Given our current limited knowledge with respect to immunological processes in transplantation, attaining significant improvements in outcome will require a series of carefully structured studies in rodents, non-human primates, and ultimately in humans. To meet the demand to improve this field as quickly as possible, it will be necessary to recruit and retain substantially more investigators possessing both interest and expertise into the field of transplantation immunobiology, as the number of investigators in this field are currently under-represented, relative to those in other high demand fields such as oncology and cardiovascular disease research. This proposed training program seeks to recruit and rigorously train highly qualified and motivated pre-doctoral and post-doctoral candidates in translational research in transplantation immunology. It is hoped that they will pursue careers in the field of transplantation immunobiology, producing scientific advances that can be translated into improved clinical practice; thus, significantly improving the length and quality of life of transplant patients in the near future.