Training in Multi-scale Analysis of Biological Structure and Function

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Project Summary This is a renewal of an NIBIB Graduate Training Program in ​Multi-Scale Analysis of Biological Structure and Function at the University of California San Diego. Pre-doctoral trainees are drawn exclusively from a formal ​Interdisciplinary Ph.D. specialization in Multi-Scale Biology (the “Interfaces Graduate Training Program”), which includes students from 10 highly ranked participating home Ph.D. programs (Bioengineering, Biological Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Neurosciences and Physics, with Materials Science & Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Nanoengineering joining since 2015). Students apply at the end of their first year of graduate studies. This T32 program brings together 40 training faculty and supported 24 students in the current period are from Biological Sciences (2), Health Sciences (9), Engineering (5) and Physical Sciences (8). It’s goal is to train a new cadre of scientist who can cross disciplinary boundaries to solve important biomedical problem that span scales of biological organization from molecule to organism. To date 44 Interfaces students have graduated. 13 were trainees on this T32. URM representation increased to 29% A central feature of the training curriculum is seven hands-on graduate laboratory courses that introduce students to advanced techniques for measuring and analyzing living systems ​at scales of biological organization spanning from molecule to whole organism​. Students use state-of-the-art facilities and technologies from mass spectrometry to electron microscopy and magnetic resonance imaging. The scientific focus on multi-scale analysis of biological structure and function reflects a fundamental challenge of modern biomedical science in developing and applying novel quantitative approaches from the physical, engineering, biological and health sciences to integrative problems in biomedicine. Regular program activities, including bi-weekly graduate seminars, annual symposia and retreats, course open houses and quarterly program meetings, promote interactions between students and faculty from different disciplines. The dual-mentored training program is successful in promoting new interdisciplinary collaborations in important areas including developmental biology, neuroscience and cancer, cardiovascular disease, diagnostics and drug discovery. This renewal application proposes to continue to train the most diverse student body to be effective leaders in structurally integrated multi-scale analysis of biological function. It will develop a new lab course in Data Sciences for Multiscale Biology, create a new Alumni Mentor Network for trainees and a structured co-mentored interdisciplinary research rotation for prospective students.