Predoctoral Training Program in Trans-Disciplinary Pharmacological Sciences



 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Predoctoral Training Program in Trans-Disciplinary Pharmacological Sciences This is the resubmission of an application to continue the existing Predoctoral Training Program in Trans- Disciplinary Pharmacological Sciences (T32) within the Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology (MPP) Graduate Program at Brown University. In its first cycle (2010-2015), the training grant funded 13 predoctoral trainees. This renewal application requests funding for 4 predoctoral trainees per year for 5 years and is intended to fund trainees in their second and third years of study. The training program is designed to produce graduates capable of establishing outstanding independent research in the interdisciplinary fields contributing to modern pharmacological sciences. The T32 already has produced several major improvements in this small, developing graduate program, with positive effects extending to the Division of Biology & Medicine and the University. The training program has 33 outstanding faculty trainers drawn from several departments at Brown University and its Warren Alpert Medical School. The research productivity, funding and mentoring records of the training faculty are strong, and there are many collaborative interactions that benefit the trainees. The research areas of trainers within the program fall into five broad categories: 1) molecular structure and its role in disease; 2) neuropharmacology and neural circuit function; 3) receptor and channel pharmacology, physiology and signal transduction; 4) translational and clinical applications; and 5) chemical biology and its applications. Trainees acquire career skills and proficiency in the areas of pharmacology through coursework, lab rotations, and many mechanisms for scientific interaction with each other and with faculty trainers, as well as with scientists from outside Brown. There is extensive advising and evaluation by the Graduate Program Director, Training Grant PI, Graduate Program Committee, Thesis Advisors and Thesis Committees, as well as by Brown's Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Trainees also are exposed to a variety of career paths through programs sponsored within and outside the MPP graduate program. We have almost no attrition, and our graduates have outstanding career outcomes. The program strives to recruit and retain students of all ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds, and has great success to-date -- the program typically consists of ~40% underrepresented minorities, including African-American, Hispanic and Native American. Continued funding of the Predoctoral Training Program in Trans-Disciplinary Pharmacological Sciences will allow us to continue to design new methods with the goal of graduating outstanding members of the scientific community with the skills essential to developing new drugs and therapeutics.