HOPE Training Grant

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The sustained global impact of the viral pandemics of HIV and SARS-CoV-2 and the challenges to the management and prevention of disease require the training and development of talented new researchers. Since 1990, we trained postdoctoral scholars in this program at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). The program is designed to produce new investigators who are capable of independently leading impactful research in basic and translational viral biology and pathogenesis. This application proposes renewal of this highly successful training program. Based on our strategic planning process, we propose an expansion in the program’s scope to better reflect the research priorities of the Office of AIDS Research and to respond to the challenges of viral pandemics like COVID-19. Specifically, the program’s priorities will include reducing incidence (including vaccination), therapeutics and cure, health disparities, and long-term comorbidities. To reflect this expansion, we propose a new leadership structure, have grown our faculty to 23 mentors who have an extensive history of independent research, collaborations, and training. We have renamed the application to reflect these changes, HIV and Other PandEmics, or HOPE. We have also added 10 mentors-in-development (MiDs), who are an internal talent pool from which a new generation of mid-career mentors for the HOPE Training Program will develop over time. The faculty are committed to identifying talented and committed postdoctoral trainees and to providing the environment and opportunities that will support their path to independence in medically relevant basic, translational, clinical, and epidemiological research. The program will retain its successful educational and training elements, while incorporating innovative new offerings to address one of the greatest challenges facing modern medicine and public health, SARS-CoV-2. The research interests and activities of our faculty support the evolving focus and priorities of virology research in general and specifically within our program. We propose to support six postdoctoral trainees for a training period of two to three years each. We aim to continue to improve on our success in training underrepresented minorities and women. Through our program of closely mentored, trainee-driven research, interactive research review, and career development activities, our overarching goal remains to prepare the next generation of scientists for highly productive careers in biomedical research with local, national and international impact.