Inflammation and Pathogenesis Training Program

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Abstract The major objective of this new training program is to produce skilled, rigorous, and creative scientists who will make novel connections between inflammatory processes and human pathogenesis. The University of Louisville is well-positioned to have high impact by selecting trainees with leadership potential from its existing Integrated Programs in Biomedical Sciences (IPIBS) for continued training on research topics that bridge microbiology and immunology. This interdisciplinary approach will bring together 35 faculty who are all highly productive scientists with extensive mentoring experience, and well-funded research programs, focused on i) inflammatory ontogeny and immune surveillance of cancer, ii) mechanisms of autoimmune disorders, iii) cellular and molecular mechanisms of host-microbial interactions, iv) animal models of infectious disease, v) the role of the microbiota in regulation of inflammatory diseases, vi) polymicrobial communities and inflammation, and vii) inflammation-driven disease and its impact on host physiology. Pre-candidacy support from IPIBS, in which all students receive stipends and benefits funded by the University of Louisville, includes laboratory rotations, advanced didactic training in immunology; inflammation; microbiology; and pathogenesis. Pre-candidacy training also includes research survival skills, including grant development and composition, oral presentations, scientific writing and publishing, professional networking, along with extensive training in the responsible conduct of research. To attain the highest positive peer-to-peer impact, each year two students who have demonstrated exceptional performance while successfully completing their first two years of graduate education as IPIBS Fellows, will be selected for two years of support from the T32 training grant. Students from diverse backgrounds who show the most potential, based on their achievements as IPIBS Fellows in graduate coursework, a qualifying exam, and in their research projects, will be selected in order to foster their academic leadership skills and excellence as research scientists. This additional training will occur through student organization of a program-specific discussion club, hosting two high profile speakers per year in disciplines that highlight important relationships between inflammation and pathogenesis and rigorous review of their research progress by a training mentor and dissertation committee. The program will be overseen by two Directors working closely with a Steering Committee, including an independent evaluation of the training program’s organization, leadership, objectives and outcomes by Internal and External Advisory Committees.