Houston Area Molecular Biophysics Program

描述（由申请人提供）：休斯顿地区分子生物物理学项目（HAMBP）是一个分子生物物理学博士研究培训项目，涉及休斯顿-加尔维斯顿地区6个教育/研究机构的43名教师导师：贝勒医学院、莱斯大学、休斯顿大学、德克萨斯大学休斯顿健康科学中心、德克萨斯大学安德森癌症中心和德克萨斯大学加尔维斯顿医学分部。由于教师人数众多，以及这些机构所代表的庞大而多样化的申请人群体，我们建议将受资助的学员人数维持在9人。学生们在课堂上和实验室里进行严格的学习。所有学员需要参加的项目活动包括分子生物物理学的教学课程和负责任的研究行为，每周一次研讨会，每月一次学员会议，每年一次研究研讨会和进展回顾，参加两次年度研究会议并发表演讲。他们在分子生物物理学的基础知识中获得了坚实的基础，接触了广泛的主题，并在世界一流的生物物理实验室中进行前沿的论文研究。研究领域包括x射线晶体学、大分子电子显微镜、荧光、磁共振等各类大分子光谱学、热力学、动力学、分子动力学、理论生物物理学、蛋白质折叠、核酸结构、分子识别等。研究的生物结构范围从多肽和脂质介质到病毒、转录复合物和肌肉细丝。受资助的受训者包括5个未被充分代表的少数民族，他们的平均GRE成绩为78% (Q)、82% (A)、74% (V)，本科平均绩点为3.50/4.0。近10年资助的29名博士研究生平均获得学位的时间为5.27年。毕业学员平均每人发表3.8篇论文，其中包括许多备受瞩目的论文和期刊封面。校友在完成培训后获得了优异的职位，并继续在高水平上进行研究。该计划由所有合作院校的代表组成的指导委员会管理，该委员会密切监督学员的进展，并决定录取申请学生和导师。HAMBP是合作机构中几个非常成功的合作培训和研究项目之一，它们共同代表了比美国任何单一机构更大的研究资源和学员库。相关性：分子生物物理学培训使研究事业能够引导对人类疾病的基本理解，并开发诊断、治疗和疾病预防的创新方法。生物物理学为生物医学研究和医学实践中的所有专业提供了工具

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Houston Area Molecular Biophysics Program (HAMBP) is a Ph.D. research training program in molecular biophysics involving 43 faculty mentors in six educational/research institutions in the Houston- Galveston area: Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, University of Houston, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Because of the large number of faculty, and the large and diverse applicant pool represented by this group of institutions, we propose to maintain our number of funded trainees at 9. Students pursue a rigorous course of study in the classroom and in the laboratory. Program activities required of all trainees include didactic courses in Molecular Biophysics and responsible conduct of research, a weekly seminar, monthly trainee meetings, an annual research symposium and progress review, and attendance and presentation at two annual research conferences. They receive a strong foundation in the fundamentals-of Molecular Biophysics, with exposure to a broad range of topics, and pursue cutting-edge thesis research in world-class biophysics laboratories. Research areas include x-ray crystallography, macromolecular electron microscopy, fluorescence, magnetic resonance and other types of macromolecular spectroscopy, thermodynamics, kinetics, molecular dynamics, theoretical biophysics, protein folding, nucleic acid structure, molecular recognition, and others. Biological structures studied range in size from peptides and lipid mediators to viruses, transcription complexes, and muscle filaments. Supported trainees have included 5 underrepresented minorities, and have had average GRE scores of 78%tile (Q), 82%tile (A), 74%tile(V), with average undergraduate GPAs of 3.50/4.0. The average time-to-degree of the 29 students supported in the last 10 years who have completed their Ph.D. is 5.27 years. The average number of publications per trainee is 3.8 for graduated trainees, including many high-profile papers and journal covers. Alumni have secured excellent positions upon completion of training, and continue to perform research at a high level. The Program is administered by a Steering Committee of representatives from all partner institutions, which closely monitors the progress of trainees, and make decisions about admission of applicant students and mentors. HAMBP is one of several highly successful cooperative training and research ventures of the partner institutions, which together represent a larger pool of research resources and trainees than any single institution in the U.S. RELEVANCE: Training in Molecular Biophysics enables research careers leading to fundamental understanding of human disease and development of innovative approaches to diagnostics, therapeutics, and disease prevention. Biophysics provides tools used by all specialties in biomedical research and in medical practice