Chemistry-Biochemistry-Biology Interface (CBBI) Program at Notre Dame

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Abstract The Chemistry-Biochemistry-Biology Interface (CBBI) Program at the University of Notre Dame is an established NIH-funded program that supports the training of diverse pool of scientists who conduct multidisciplinary research at the interface of chemistry and biology-related disciplines. The goal of the CBBI Program is to produce PhD scientists who work effectively at the interface of chemistry and biology and who are able to speak the language of two or more disciplines. The CBBI Program has established an outstanding training environment for our predoctoral trainees. Since 2007 we have trained 84 students, 57 of whom have completed PhD degrees in an average of 5.14 years (time to PhD degree from CBBI trainees is 4.98 in the past 10 years) with 19 still in training. Of these 84, 16 are underrepresented minorities (URMs), 10 of whom have already received PhD degrees. Our 84 trainees have 362 publications, of which 159 are first-author publications. This represents 4.3 publications per trainee and 1.9 first-author publications per trainee. The 16 URMs have produced 79 publications, of which 31 are first-author publications; this represents 4.9 publications per URM and 1.9 first- author publications per URM. During the past 14 years, our attrition rate has been low, with only eight of 84 trainees (9.5%) who did not complete a PhD degree. The key highlights of the CBBI Program are: 1) a large and diverse pool of highly qualified candidates; 2) a strong track record of collaborative and multidisciplinary research by both trainees and mentors; 3) a diverse faculty group that serves as research mentors and are experienced, productive, and federally-funded; 4) an intensive, cross-disciplinary research internship in the other field outside the mentor’s laboratory; 5) multidisciplinary seminars that supplement training; 6) individual and group meetings with trainees; 7) the annual CBBI symposium that features both oral and poster presentations at the chemistry- biology interface; 8) program administration with an established track record of training students at the chemistry- biology interface; 9) a plan and mechanism for continuous evaluation and refinement of the training program; 10) professional development and career placement; 11) outstanding research facilities; and 12) a strong institutional commitment. We propose to continue to train PhD scientists with the skills and expertise to solve challenging biomedical problems, regardless of discipline. The University of Notre Dame enthusiastically supports this training program, and will continue to provide a generous fellowship match to the CBBI Program and additional resources, including the cost of the research internship for all trainees, upon renewal of funding by the NIH.