Biology of Infectious Disease and Inflammation

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is a request for continued support of an expanded training grant (TG) in Infectious Disease and Inflammation (IDIP) at the University of New Mexico. In the 10 years since its inception, this training program provided pre- and postdoctoral trainees opportunities to engage in cutting edge, interdisciplinary and technology-centered infectious disease (ID) research and learn from a wide variety of scientists. An underlying theme has been the promotion of interactions between researchers who are using different experimental approaches to study infectious disease, host responses and biothreats. Crossing departmental and institutional lines, the TG now draws upon the expertise of thirty-two funded investigators. The training faculty have appointments in four School of Medicine departments that include Internal Medicine (8), Cell Biology and Physiology (1), Pathology (9) and Molecular Genetics and Microbiology (7); the College of Pharmacy (1); the UNM department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering (1); and Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (5). Faculty trainers fall into four areas of interest: 1) Translational Studies in ID and Immunity -bringing basic findings into clinical research, then to practice; 2) Cell Biology of Infection the study of ID at the intercellular level; 3) Pathogenesis of Emerging ID -pathogenic mechanisms of disease causation and 4) Bridging Technologies - the incorporation of cutting edge technologies to the study of ID. Both predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees are expected to complete IDIP-specific courses in addition to their regular (predoctoral) course work in the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program including specific journal clubs and works in progress sessions. Despite the youth of our TG, we have enjoyed substantial success at recruiting members of under- represented minorities (URM) to the program, and our graduates, including members of minority groups, have already begun to appear among the ranks of the faculty of institutions such as the University of Kentucky or the Scripps Research Institute. We believe our TG has achieved great momentum and is poised to realize even greater impact with its far larger cadre of trainers and greater access to high-quality minority and non-minority students. Support for our program will yield substantial rewards, expanding the ranks of highly interdisciplinary young investigators.