Training Program in Quantitative Biology & Physiology (QBP)

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De novo funding is requested to build on the success of an existing training program entitled Quantitative Biology and Physiology (QBP) with enhancements and new elements. The core mission of this program will be to train PhD research scientists who demonstrate: (1) a quantitatively-based understanding of the principles underlying molecular biology, cell biology and physiology; (2) the ability to apply advanced techniques of computational modeling and quantitative measurement to understand biological and physiological systems; (3) the capacity to determine emergent properties biological systems or processes across length scales; and (4) the insight to apply their knowledge, in an academic or industrial setting, in order to improve human health. The QBP program includes the following crucial features (new features underlined): A large and extraordinarily talented and diverse pool of BME PhD matriculants from which trainees will be chosen; to promote a diverse class, an explicit policy that the GREs are not a criterion for admission to the QBP training program; a carefully curated list of 34 training faculty; a request to increase the number of NIH-funded slots to 12 with a commitment from the BU BME department to fund an additional two trainees each year; an integrated structure of governance that includes student and faculty representatives; robust data collection and a dashboard display, as well as more detailed surveys and interviews of trainees, begun with support from a T32 supplement; rigorous training for mentors and mentees throughout the lifetime of this program; a well-considered curriculum that includes rigorous training in quantitative biology at multiple scales, scale- independent analysis and modeling, and multi-scale measurement techniques; a new, highly successful elective course in Machine Learning for BME applications; multiple lab rotations that ensure exposure to quantitative and systems/dynamics research techniques relevant to problems at the molecular, cellular- tissue, and organ-level biology and physiology; opportunities to conduct thesis research that is interdisciplinary, quantitative, integrative, and necessarily linked to experimental and/or clinical data; training and incentives for trainees to apply for and receive independent funding; for students after the first and fourth years of PhD training, a summer retreat covering regulatory issues, supplemental training in ethics, and preparation for research and leadership careers after graduation; successful culture-building efforts, including a journal club and a yearly symposium; dinners each year with clinical and academic thought leaders; and continual improvement of successful efforts to increase the size of the pool and the yield of candidates from underrepresented minorities and those with disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds. In summary, the requested funding will support a program of diverse excellence that fills a unique niche in America’s research infrastructure.