Interdisciplinary Research Training in Cancer Biology

描述（由申请人提供）：这个多学科项目将重点培训癌症生物学方面的博士前学生和博士后研究员，以便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，我们将信号转导和癌细胞生存机制、癌症进展和转移、肿瘤微环境、氧化应激和 DNA 损伤以及临床暴露等方面已经建立的成功项目整合到一个有凝聚力的项目中。学员将接受教学和非教学指导、基于实验室的癌症研究和前沿临床应用基础科学研究培训，以及作为独立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，以阐明他们的想法并有效地进行交流，评估生物医学研究，并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 个不同系的基础科学和临床教师组成的有凝聚力的团队。在过去的10年里，我们的项目教师已培养了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焦点来指导这批学员在从事多学科研究的研究团队中发挥作用。我们指导学员熟练运用假设驱动的方法以及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、伦理学和癌症生物学和治疗课程的基础课程，该课程强调人类疾病背景下的癌症。培训还包括参加马基癌症中心研讨会系列和癌症生物学期刊俱乐部。该计划的一个独特之处是跨学科培训机会，将强调从实验室到临床（反之亦然）的研究主题，以在癌症的基础生物学和临床癌症之间架起一座桥梁。最终目标是培养一批未来科学家，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相关。此外，为了帮助确保我们对基础科学发现的临床转化的承诺，马基癌症中心副主任 Vivek Rangnekar 博士。和主任 Mark Evers 医学博士将担任这个基于团队的培训计划的 PI。肯塔基大学非常重视对少数族裔学生、博士后研究人员和医生的培训，因此该计划将确保将少数族裔和族裔背景的个人纳入其中，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，利用跨学科团队方法更好地理解和治疗癌症。

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.