Advanced Research Training in Transplantation Immunobiology

描述（由申请人提供）：此培训补助金已被创建，以增加个人在翻译研究谁将追求事业在移植的基础和应用免疫生物学的优秀培训。移植，现在被认为是许多类型的终末期器官衰竭患者的最佳治疗方法，是一个高度专业化的领域，其中免疫学起着至关重要的作用。器官移植的未来发展将需要开发新的免疫抑制剂，其毒性显著降低，但效力与目前可用的方案相同或更高，并需要开发准确的免疫监测方法来评估移植受体的免疫反应性，从而可以有效地提供个性化的免疫抑制方案。然而，移植领域只有在对同种异体抗原的免疫应答以及对病原微生物和肿瘤细胞表达的抗原的免疫应答有了更透彻的了解后，才能全面发展。目前，短期结果正在改善，但移植的长期成功结果仍然超出我们的能力范围。鉴于我们目前对移植免疫学过程的了解有限，要获得显著的结果改善，需要在啮齿动物、非人灵长类动物以及最终在人类中进行一系列精心设计的研究。为了满足尽快改善这一领域的需求，有必要招募和保留更多对移植免疫生物学领域感兴趣和具有专业知识的研究人员，因为相对于其他高需求领域（如肿瘤学和心血管疾病研究），这一领域的研究人员数量目前不足。这个拟议的培训计划旨在招募和严格培训高素质和积极的博士前和博士后候选人在移植免疫学的转化研究。希望他们将在移植免疫生物学领域从事事业，产生可以转化为改善临床实践的科学进步;从而在不久的将来显着提高移植患者的生命长度和质量。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This training grant has been created to increase excellent training of individuals in translational research who will pursue careers in basic and applied immunobiology of transplantation. Transplantation, now recognized as the optimal therapy for patients with many types of end-stage organ failure, is a highly specialized field in which immunology plays a crucial role. Future progress in organ transplantation will require the development of new classes of immunosuppressive agents associated with dramatically less toxicity but equal or greater potency than currently available regimens and the development of accurate methods of immune monitoring to assess immune responsiveness of graft recipients so that individualized immunosuppression regimens can be effectively provided. However, the field of transplantation can only fully advance if a more thorough understanding of the immune response to alloantigens, as well as to the antigens expressed by pathogenic micro-organisms and neoplastic cells, is achieved. At present, short term outcomes are improving, but consistent long term successful outcomes in transplantation are still beyond our reach. Given our current limited knowledge with respect to immunological processes in transplantation, attaining significant improvements in outcome will require a series of carefully structured studies in rodents, non-human primates, and ultimately in humans. To meet the demand to improve this field as quickly as possible, it will be necessary to recruit and retain substantially more investigators possessing both interest and expertise into the field of transplantation immunobiology, as the number of investigators in this field are currently under-represented, relative to those in other high demand fields such as oncology and cardiovascular disease research. This proposed training program seeks to recruit and rigorously train highly qualified and motivated pre-doctoral and post-doctoral candidates in translational research in transplantation immunology. It is hoped that they will pursue careers in the field of transplantation immunobiology, producing scientific advances that can be translated into improved clinical practice; thus, significantly improving the length and quality of life of transplant patients in the near future.