Interdisciplinary Research Training in Cancer Biology

描述（由申请人提供）：该多学科项目将重点培养癌症生物学博士预科生和博士后，使他们能够有效地破译与人类癌症相关的重要研究问题。为了实现这一目标，我们将已经建立并成功的肿瘤细胞生存、肿瘤进展和转移、肿瘤微环境、氧化应激和DNA损伤与临床暴露的信号转导和机制整合到一个有衔接的项目中。受训者将接受教学和非教学指导，以实验室为基础的癌症研究和前沿临床应用的基础科学研究培训，以及作为独立的癌症生物学家的职业发展。学生和研究员将接受充分的培训，以表达他们的想法并有效地进行交流，评估生物医学研究，指导他人取得卓越的科学成就，从而成为科学界的重要成员。该项目汇集了来自医学院6个不同部门的基础科学和临床教师。在过去的10年里，我们的项目教师培养了90名博士生和100多名博士后，并拥有丰富的经验和跨学科的重点，指导这群学员在研究团队中进行多学科研究。我们指导学员熟练运用假设驱动的方法和以发现为导向的研究设计来解决关键问题。所有学员都必须完成研究生水平的基础课程，包括遗传学、生物化学、免疫学、药理学、生理学、细胞生物学、分子生物学、生物统计学、伦理学，以及强调癌症在人类疾病背景下的生物学和治疗课程。培训还包括参加马基癌症中心系列研讨会和癌症生物学杂志俱乐部。该计划的一个独特之处在于跨学科的培训机会，将强调实验室到床边（反之亦然）的研究主题，为癌症的基础生物学和临床癌症之间提供一座桥梁。最终目标是培养一批未来的科学家，他们可以成为综合团队方法的领导者，以了解癌症的复杂问题，因为它与潜在的预防和治疗策略有关。此外，为了确保我们对基础科学发现的临床转化的承诺，Markey癌症中心副主任Vivek Rangnekar博士和主任Mark Evers医学博士将担任该团队培训项目的私人导师。肯塔基大学非常重视培养少数族裔学生、博士后研究人员和医生，因此这个项目将确保包括那些种族和民族背景不足的人，以更好地服务于我们多元化的社会。因此，该培训计划将培训下一代癌症研究人员，使他们能够利用跨学科团队的方法更好地了解和治疗癌症。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This multi-disciplinary program will focus on training pre-doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows in Cancer Biology so that they can effectively decipher important research questions associated with human Cancer. To accomplish this objective, we have integrated the already established and successful programs in Signal Transduction and Mechanisms of Cancer Cell Survival, Cancer Progression and Metastasis, Tumor Microenvironment, and Oxidative Stress and DNA Damage with clinical exposure into one cohesive program. The trainees will receive both didactic and non-didactic instruction, laboratory-based basic science research training in cancer research and cutting edge clinical applications, and career development as independent cancer biologists. The students and fellows will receive ample training to articulate their ideas and communicate them effectively, evaluate biomedical research, and mentor others in scientific excellence, and thus function as important members of the scientific community. This program assembles a cohesive group of basic science and clinical faculty from 6 different departments at the College of Medicine. In the past 10 years our program faculty has trained 90 doctoral students and over 100 post-doctoral fellows, and has the experience and the interdisciplinary focus to guide this group of trainees to function in research teams pursuing multidisciplinary investigations. We mentor our trainees to be proficient at utilizing hypothesis-driven approaches as well as discovery-oriented research design to address key problems. All trainees are required to complete the foundation courses in graduate level Genetics, Biochemistry, Immunology, Pharmacology, Physiology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Biostatistics, Ethics, and the Cancer Biology and Therapy course, which emphasizes cancer in the context of human disease. Training also involves participation in the Markey Cancer Center Seminar Series and a Cancer Biology Journal Club. A unique feature of this program is the interdisciplinary training opportunity that will emphasize bench to bedside (and vice versa) research topics to provide a bridge between the fundamental biology of cancer and clinical cancer. The ultimate objective is to develop a cadre of future scientists who can become leaders in integrative team approaches to understand the complex issue of cancer as it relates to potential prevention and treatment strategies. Moreover, to help ensure our commitment to the clinical-translation of basic science discoveries, Markey Cancer Center Associate Director Vivek Rangnekar, Ph.D. and Director Mark Evers, M.D., will be PIs for this team-based training program. The University of Kentucky places a significant emphasis on training of minority students, post-doctoral researchers and physicians, and therefore this program will ensure the inclusion of individuals with under-represented racial and ethnic background to better serve our diverse society. Accordingly, this training program will train the next generation of cancer researchers to better understand and treat cancers using an interdisciplinary team approach.