Advanced Multidisciplinary Training Program for Systems Biology

描述(由申请人提供)：在生物医学研究领域，信息积累的速度比经典研究学科的范例和方法可以有效利用的速度快得多。很明显，特定学科的专业知识不再能维持足够的研究进展。新出现的科学家，无论他们的培训广度如何，也必须接受培训，以便在研究团队中工作，以便他们能够在整个职业生涯中不断利用新方法和新概念。拟议的系统生物学高级多学科培训计划旨在使研究人员能够利用跨学科方法解决人类疾病的复杂机制。跨学科有两种方式。多学科方法是团队建设：来自不同学科的专家应用他们独特的观点共同解决一个问题。相比之下，跨学科方法是指一个人应用融合了两个或更多传统学科的知识来解决问题。新的跨学科领域(和调查人员)总是通过密切的多学科合作来创造的，我们的计划旨在加强这种合作，将其作为研究生培训的基本要素。这样的综合培训需要一个专门适合个别受训者需求的计划，同时也要加快研究进展。系统生物学高级多学科培训计划的总体目标是通过对博士前学生进行跨学科培训来加速生物医学研究。拟议的培训计划将涉及33名计划教职员工和精选的博士前实习生，他们将进入14个授予学位的博士课程。从这些博士项目中挑选出来的教师，根据他们与本培训项目相关的不同研究背景，以及为学生提供跨学科培训机会的潜在或现有合作研究项目，作为导师参与本培训项目。我们的目标是提供跨越计算学科和生物学科的跨学科方法的教学培训，并为学生创造一个充满活力的培训环境，这是一个由多学科团队和跨学科科学家共同工作以了解人类疾病机制的研究社区。这些目标将通过实施一项为期两年的培训计划来实现，该计划包括以下特点：1)跨学科研究概念和方法的教学性和体验式培训；2)以学生为中心的灵活的课程定制，以满足每个学生的需要，通过计算和生物选修课；3)研究项目，要求学生在一组多学科教师共同导师的指导下使用跨学科方法；以及4)学生参与通过研讨会、数据和期刊俱乐部以及年度务虚会鼓励学生和导师之间的互动的社区。学生和项目评估计划旨在密切跟踪学生的进度，并允许培训项目的持续改进。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In biomedical research fields, information now accumulates at a much faster rate than the paradigms and methods of classic research disciplines can effectively utilize. It is clear that discipline-specific expertise can no longer sustain adequate research progress. Emerging scientists, regardless of their breadth of training, must also be trained to work in research teams so that they can continually take advantage of new methods and concepts throughout their career. The proposed Advanced Multidisciplinary Training Program for Systems Biology is designed to prime researchers to tackle complex mechanisms of human disease utilizing cross- disciplinary approaches. There are two ways to cross disciplines. A multidisciplinary approach is team-building: experts from diverse disciplines applying their unique perspectives to address collectively a problem. In contrast, an interdisciplinary approach is when a single person applies knowledge that melds two or more traditional disciplines to solve a problem. New interdisciplinary fields (and investigators) have always been created by close multidisciplinary collaboration, and our program is designed to enforce such collaborations as an essential element of graduate training. Such comprehensive training requires a program specifically suited to the needs of individual trainees that also accelerates research progress. The overall goal of the Advanced Multidisciplinary Training Program for Systems Biology is to accelerate biomedical research through cross- discipline training of pre-doctoral students. The proposed Training Program will involve 33 program faculty members and selected pre-doctoral trainees matriculated into 14 degree-granting Ph.D. programs. Selected faculty members from these Ph.D. programs participate as mentors in this training program based on their diverse research backgrounds of relevance to this training program, and potential or existing collaborative research projects to provide students with interdisciplinary training opportunities. Our objectives are to provide didactic training in interdisciplinary approaches spanning computational to biological disciplines, and create a vibrant training environment for students that is a research community composed of multidisciplinary teams and interdisciplinary scientists working together to understand the mechanisms of human disease. The objectives will be achieved by implementation of a 2-year training plan that incorporates the following features: 1) didactic and experiential training in interdisciplinary research concepts and approaches, 2) a student- centered and flexible curriculum custom tailored to meet the needs of each student via computational and biology elective courses, 3) a research project that will require the student to use interdisciplinary approaches under the mentorship of a multi-disciplinary set of faculty co-mentors, and 4) students engaged in a community that encourages interaction between students and mentors through seminars, data and journal clubs, and an annual retreat. Plans for student and program assessment are designed to tightly track student progress, and allow for continual improvement of the training program.