Graduate Training Program in Quantitative and Chemical Biology at Indiana University Bloomington

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In this proposal, thirty-four highly collaborative preceptors drawn from the Departments of Chemistry, Biology and Physics and three different graduate programs, in Biochemistry, Cell, Molecular and Cancer Biology (CMCB) and Neuroscience, at Indiana University, Bloomington, have joined forces to continue to provide predoctoral training at the chemistry-biology interface (CBI) in Quantitative and Chemical Biology (QCB). Our training mission is to transform graduate education in the molecular sciences on our campus, by facilitating interdisciplinary and collaborative research training in the chemical, physical and biological sciences to address important problems in biology and medicine. The program does this by providing a core didactic and extracurricular experience in chemical and physical biology that seamlessly integrates quantitative and rigorous training into traditional disciplines defined by the six Ph.D.-granting graduate programs that nominate students for support. The program is directed by a Program Director and a Co- Director, each with complementary expertise in physical and chemical biology, and is overseen by a Steering Committee that includes preceptors from all six participating departments and programs. The Recruitment Committee is charged with identifying and recruiting students for support by the program. The Curriculum Committee will continue to oversee the creation of new topics-based e-modules by QCB students, while QCB training faculty teach two 1.5 credit core courses, Introduction to Quantitative Biology and Measurement (C680) and Introduction to Chemical Biology I (C681), as well as QCB Journal Club (C689). Extracurricular programmatic activities include a QCB trainee-Invited Seminar Series and QCB Evenings, a monthly “super-group” research seminar series, both of which are entirely organized by our growing QCB trainee cohort, spearheaded by two QCB (trainee) Ambassadors. The training program also hosts the annual Watanabe Symposium in Chemical Biology, which brings internationally prominent scientists to Bloomington from academia and industry alike to network with QCB trainees. Our program provides significant career development opportunities for trainees, and enjoys strong administrative support from the College of Arts and Sciences, which has committed ten matching slots over the five- year project period. Current NIGMS and College support have been used to support a highly diverse cohort of trainees thus far (2014-2018) for 1-2 years in years 2-3 of their graduate careers. A major objective is to significantly diversify the chemical, physical and biological sciences at IU; comprehensive diversity recruitment and trainee retention plans are provided, which when coupled with proactive University Graduate School support of an underrepresented group trainee, will allow us to achieve this objective. Plans for instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research and Methods for Enhancing Reproducibility are also provided.