Translational Immunology Training Program

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Project Summary/Abstract This is a revised, competitive renewal, T32 application in which we have coalesced and reconfigured two previously distinct and successful T32 programs at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), a post-doc program in Transplant Immunology [(P Heeger, former program director (PD)] and a pre-/post-doc program in Immunology (S Lira, former PD), into an expanded pre- and post-doctoral training program in Translational Immunology (P Heeger and S Lira Co-PDs). Combining the programs will a) enhance translational immunology training (including training in transplantation) through cross fertilization (e.g. exposing trainees in cancer immunology to transplant immunology, immunodeficiency and autoimmunity through a joint training venue) b) leverage common training faculty and institutional resources, as well as a revised immunology-focused, administrative infrastructure (including education, career development and evaluation processes) to enhance function and efficiency of the training experience, and c) limit overlap among training faculty. Additional rationale include 1) our success over the past 16 years in attracting and training pre- and post-doctoral MD, PhD and MD/PhD trainees into immunology research careers, 2) the continued need for improving outcomes of immune-mediated diseases 3) our desire to positively impact the education of future basic and translational investigators in immunology, and 4) the fact that our training environment and research foci are well-suited to offer diverse basic and translational immunology research opportunities for trainees. The exceptional ability of Mount Sinai's immunology community to make fundamental discoveries, to translate the results into novel and effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, and to incorporate pre- and post-doc training into its research mission underscores the significance of this revised training program. The overall objective of this program is to attract and train talented MD/PhD and PhD students and post-docs over 2 year periods, for successful, independent careers in immunology relevant to human disease. We have a diverse, well-funded faculty with broad interest in immunology and a strong pool of pre- and post-doc trainees that includes significant numbers of underrepresented minorities. The program is designed to provide training by individual mentors performing research in all aspects of Immunology relevant to human disease. The program is supported with strong oversight and administrative structure, significant didactic training in Immunology, scientific writing and career development, and contains newly added state of the art evaluation approaches with defined goals and benchmarks for success so as to optimize the development of independent academic researchers in the field.