Graduate and Postdoctoral Training in Environmental Health Science and Toxicology

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SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This competitive renewal of our successful T32 training program in the Environmental Health Sciences and Toxicology is focused on training the next generation of leaders in the field by assuring a multidisciplinary training experience needed by trainees to develop as successful independent environmental health researchers and practitioners. The program is built on our growing and successful PhD training program in the environmental health sciences, and the complimentary postdoctoral training opportunities afforded by the growing base of environmental health research at Emory. The breadth and depth of our faculty, and our expanding focus on exposome research incorporating environmental data sciences makes Emory uniquely suited to continue our successful training efforts. Our trainees take rigorous coursework in their first two years to gain a comprehensive base of knowledge in three key disciplines of the environmental health sciences: (1) exposure science, (2) biological mechanisms of susceptibility and disease, and (3) environmental determinants of population health. This is supplemented by training in the responsible conduct of research and ethics, communication and grant-writing skills, teaching, and numerous opportunities for professional development and management training. Mentored research sits at the center of this training program, allowing students to gain an in-depth understanding of a specific topic through their chosen mentor and project, and trainees have developed projects in molecular and neurotoxicology, environmental epidemiology, exposure science, predictive toxicology, genomics, and metabolomics. A total of 33 experienced training faculty with broad research foci are available, and these faculty are supported by over 160 research grants and projects, an NIEHS/EPA Children’s Environmental Health Center, our NIEHS P30 Core Center, as well as collaboration with numerous other centers and programs throughout the University. We propose to continue the support of six predoctoral and three postdoctoral trainees. Predoctoral trainees hold bachelor’s and often master’s degrees in basic science, public health, or engineering disciplines, and postdoctoral trainees must hold a doctoral degree in environmental health, epidemiology, toxicology, environmental engineering, or related basic or public health science disciplines. All trainees must demonstrate a commitment to research and a career in the environmental health sciences and/or toxicology. Our program has had success in recruiting and retaining under-represented minorities in science, and we have numerous programs in place to continue and increase these opportunities. The vast majority of trainees completing this program are entering research intensive positions in the academic or government setting, and a number of our trainees have received individual training support in the form of F30/F31 or K99/R00 awards. We aim to continue the tradition of excellence in providing trainees a comprehensive training experience to allow them to make impactful contributions to public health and successfully pursue complex problems in the environmental health sciences and toxicology.