TRAINING PROGRAM IN MACROMOLECULAR STRUCTURE AND MECHANISM

描述(由申请者提供)：此申请旨在纽约大学医学院(NYUSOM)建立一个大分子结构和机制方面的研究生培训计划，以获得博士学位。在这个后基因组时代，对大分子的详细知识将导致对所有生物系统所需的信息传递、能量转导和其他基本机制的基本理解。拟议的培训计划将结合早期教学课程工作、论文委员会和顾问的持续指导以及四年的实践研究，为学生作为生物医学科学家的独立职业生涯做好准备。拟议的计划将代表结构生物学现有计划的重新配置，该计划于7年前在NYUSOM机构支持下启动，即来自负责监督NYUSOM所有研究生教育的萨克勒研究所。到目前为止，我们现有的项目已经毕业了5名学生，目前有23名处于不同研究生学习阶段的活跃学生。这些学生中有四人来自代表性不足的少数族裔，这反映了萨克勒研究所一直在努力提高纽约大学管理学院的少数族裔申请者的数量和质量。对于拟议的计划，我们已经确定了16名教员，他们使用各种生物物理、生化和结构方法研究大分子机制。根据他们的研究，这些能力可以分为四类：信号转导、膜运输、核酸调节和组装、蛋白质折叠和设计。这些教师在医学院的几个不同的基础研究部门以及文理学院的生物系和化学系都有任职，因此提供了一个高度跨学科的培训环境。拟议的课程包括1.结构和分子生物学原理和方法的专门课程，2.三次研究轮换，3.研究提案的制定和辩护，4.研究陈述中的持续培训和实践，5.关于科学道德行为和研究生职业选择的讨论和讲座，6.在参与的教员实验室进行严格的研究经验。相关性：关于大分子的详细信息与当前医疗保健的趋势高度相关，因为全基因组测序让位于对生物系统运行机制的研究。疾病通常是由单个大分子的缺陷或攻击引起的；根据详细的结构信息，可以设计特定的治疗剂来干扰或改善后果。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application seeks to establish a graduate training program in Macromolecular Structure and Mechanism at New York University School of Medicine (NYUSOM) leading to a Ph.D. degree. In this post-genomic era, detailed knowledge of macromolecules will lead to a fundamental understanding of information transfer, energy transduction and other basic mechanisms required of all biological systems. The proposed training program will combine early didactic course work, continuous mentorship from thesis committees and advisors with four years of hands-on research to prepare students for independent careers as biomedical scientists. The proposed program would represent a reconfiguration of an existing program in Structural Biology that was initiated 7 years ago with NYUSOM institutional support, namely from the Sackler Institute which oversees all graduate education at NYUSOM. To date, our existing program has graduated five students and currently contains 23 active students at various stages in their graduate studies. Four of these Students are from underrepresented minorities, reflecting the consistently high efforts by the Sackler Institute to increase the numbers and quality of minority applicants to NYUSOM. For the proposed program, we have identified 16 faculty that investigate macromolecular mechanisms using a variety of biophysical, biochemical and structural methods. These faculty can be grouped into four categories based on their research: signal transduction, membrane transport, regulation and assembly of nucleic acids, protein folding and design. These faculty have appointments in several different basic research departments at the School of Medicine and, in addition, in the Biology and Chemistry departments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, thus providing a highly interdisciplinary training environment. The proposed curriculum includes 1. specialized courses in the principles and methods of structural and molecular biology, 2. three research rotations, 3. formulation and defense of a research proposal, 4. continuous training and practice in research presentations, 5. discussions and lectures on ethical conduct in science and postgraduate career options, and 6. a rigorous research experience in a participating faculty member's laboratory. RELEVANCE: Detailed information about macromolecules is highly relevant to current trends in healthcare as the genome- wide sequencing gives way to investigations of the mechanisms by which biological systems function. Disease generally results from defects in or attacks on individual macromolecules; given detailed structural information, specific therapeutic agents can be designed to interfere with or ameliorate the consequences.