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，有43名教师参与，他们来自休斯顿-加尔维斯顿地区的六个教育/研究机构：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M.D.安德森癌症中心和德克萨斯大学加尔维斯顿分校。由于这类院校的教员众多，申请者众多，我们建议将我们资助的学员人数维持在9人。学生在课堂和实验室都要进行严格的课程学习。所有学员必须参加的计划活动包括分子生物物理学教学课程和负责任的研究行为，每周一次研讨会，每月学员会议，年度研究研讨会和进展回顾，以及出席和在两次年度研究会议上发表演讲。他们在分子生物物理学的基础上获得了坚实的基础，接触到了广泛的主题，并在世界级的生物物理实验室进行前沿的论文研究。研究领域包括X射线结晶学、大分子电子显微镜、荧光、磁共振等类型的大分子光谱学、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。所研究的生物结构的大小从多肽和脂质介体到病毒、转录复合体和肌丝。受资助的学员包括5个代表性不足的少数民族，他们的平均GRE分数分别为78%(Q)、82%(A)、74%(V)，本科生平均GPA为3.50/4.0。过去10年资助的29名完成博士学位的学生的平均攻读时间为5.27年。毕业学员平均每名学员的出版物数量为3.8篇，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秀的职位，并继续进行高水平的研究。该计划由来自所有伙伴机构的代表组成的指导委员会管理，该委员会密切监测受训人员的进展，并就申请学生和导师的录取做出决定。HAMBP是合作机构的几个非常成功的合作培训和研究项目之一，这些合作机构的研究资源和受训人员总数超过了美国任何一个机构。相关性：分子生物物理学方面的培训使研究事业能够对人类疾病有基本的了解，并开发诊断、治疗和疾病预防的创新方法。生物物理学提供了所有专业在生物医学研究和医疗实践中使用的工具

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