Columbia University Graduate Training Program in Microbiology and Immunology

描述（由申请人提供）：在此重新提交，我们要求每年选择两名研究生学员，谁在我们的微生物学和免疫学博士前哥伦比亚大学研究生培训计划获得论文作者地位的支持。每个受训人员将获得两年的资助。这个博士授予计划，由我们的主任大卫Fidock博士和联合主任鲍里斯Reizis博士领导，为博士前学员提供了一个独特的机会，以获得广泛的微生物学和免疫学研究的个性化培训。该研究集中在免疫细胞和组织发育和稳态，病原体生物学，DNA复制和修复机制以及微生物和免疫细胞增殖的主题上。这些跨学科的兴趣正在一个高度协作和互动的框架中进行，该框架将我们的19名培训教师联系起来，他们都被任命为微生物学和免疫学系，由我们的主席Sankar Ghosh博士领导。我们的研究生课程建立在数十年成功的研究生培训基础上，已经证明我们可以招募并留住一批优秀的培训补助金合格（TGE）申请人。受训人员学习微生物学和免疫学、生物化学、分子细胞生物学、遗传学、定量生物学和负责任的研究行为等课程，并参加科学写作和写作讲习班。学生还必须通过资格考试，测试他们制定和捍卫与论文研究无关的假设驱动项目的能力。我们的计划框架包括一个指导委员会，定期评估学生和培训师的表现，课程和新申请人;一个过程，以确定最好的学员，并在他们的研究生学习成功地指导他们;初级培训师的指导计划，以及外部审查委员会与计划主任谁提供定期反馈，以帮助优化计划的有效性。我们的研究生课程显示出出色的招聘和保留率，沿着前博士生的职业成果的杰出记录，包括代表性不足的少数民族或弱势学生。在过去的十年中，95%的前学员继续从事科学或医学工作，15%的人已经获得了终身教职或非终身教职。我们更加重视招聘代表性不足的少数民族，包括与波多黎各大学达成新的协议，该大学有大量的TGE申请学生，以及广泛的外联举措。我们还受益于我们医学院院长和我们的研究生事务办公室提供的非常强大的机构支持，包括财政支持，使我们的培训补助金能够在选定的学员成功完成课程和资格考试并从事全职研究后提供支持。我们有信心，我们的动态，严谨和科学创新的培训计划将塑造未来的微生物学和免疫学研究的学术领导者，他们将获得能够解决传染病和免疫调节关键课题的技能。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In this resubmission, we request support for two graduate trainees selected each year, who have attained dissertator status in our predoctoral Columbia University Graduate Training Program in Microbiology and Immunology. Each trainee would be funded for two years. This PhD granting Program, led by our Director Dr. David Fidock and Co-Director Dr. Boris Reizis, provides predoctoral trainees with a unique opportunity to obtain individualized training across a broad spectrum of microbiology and immunology research. This research converges on themes of immune cell and tissue development and homeostasis, pathogen biology, mechanisms of DNA replication and repair, and microbial and immune cell proliferation. These cross-disciplinary interests are being pursued in a highly collaborative and interactive framework that links our 19 training faculty, who are all appointed to the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, led by our Chairman Dr. Sankar Ghosh. Our graduate program, built on many decades of successful graduate training, has proven that we can recruit and retain an outstanding cohort of training grant eligible (TGE) applicants. Trainees take courses in microbiology and immunology, biochemistry, molecular cell biology, genetics, quantitative biology, and responsible conduct in research, and are enrolled in workshops on scientific writing and grantsmanship. Students must also pass a qualifying examination that tests their ability to formulate and defend a hypothesis-driven project unrelated to their thesis research. Our programmatic framework includes a Steering Committee that regularly evaluates student and trainer performance, the curriculum, and new applicants; a process to identify the best trainees and mentor them successfully throughout their graduate studies; a mentoring plan for junior trainers, and an External Review Board with Program Directors who provide regular feedback to help optimize program effectiveness. Our Graduate Program has shown excellent recruitment and retention rates, along with an outstanding record of career outcomes for former predoctoral trainees, including underrepresented minorities or disadvantaged students. 95% of our former trainees in the past decade have continued in science or medicine and 15% have already achieved tenure-track or non tenure-track faculty positions. Our increased emphasis on recruitment of underrepresented minorities includes a new agreement with the University of Puerto Rico, which has a large student body of TGE applicants, and extensive outreach initiatives. We also benefit from very strong institutional support provided by the Dean of our medical school and our Office of Graduate Affairs, including financial support that allows our training grant to support selected trainees once they have successfully completed their coursework and qualifying examination and are engaged in full-time research. We are confident that our dynamic, rigorous and scientifically innovative training program will mold future academic leaders in microbiology and immunology research who will have acquired the skills to be able to tackle critical topics in infectious diseases and immune regulation.