Molecular Biophysics Training Grant at Vanderbilt

应用定量方法研究生物学和医学被确定为一个必不可少的 生物医学研究的未来发展。分子生物物理学培训计划 （MBTP）在范德比尔特专门解决了这一需要，培训学生在工作之间的接口 生物学和医学中的定量分子方法和关键问题。因此，MBTP提供了 为具有生物科学背景的受训者提供更深的物理科学基础， 更彻底的接触生物科学和医学比通常的学生与物理 科学或工程背景。尽管该项目的培训教师来自九个不同的国家， 在各部门，它植根于一个共同研究和培训活动的既定网络。的额外 到26培训学院和58名学生，培训环境大大丰富了积极的 约40名科研人员和博士后研究员参加。除了个人设计的课程， 每个学员，MBTP每月举行两次正式的研究研讨会， 分子生物物理学社区研究范围从小分子药物的设计到 多蛋白质细胞机器的结构分析和从膜蛋白的表征到 跟随生物分子进出细胞的运动。研究项目涉及广泛的 物理，化学和计算方法，包括X射线晶体学，NMR，EPR和 荧光光谱、质谱、冷冻电子显微镜、细胞成像和 分子/细胞模拟，通常涉及多种方法。学员通常在毕业后不久加入MBTP， 他们在选择论文实验室后的第一年研究生培训，然后支持两年。 赠款支持涵盖额外的专门教学培训和论文启动所需的时间 research.然而，所有学员（及其导师）在整个MBTP计划活动中保持活跃。 研究生培训的时间。 相关性（参见说明）： 分子生物物理学的最终目标是获得一个定量描述的形状，表面 细胞的生命是由成千上万个分子之间的相互作用组成的。等 知识提供了对正常生理和导致疾病的功能障碍的直接理解， 并进而可用于开发特异性针对缺陷分子的药物疗法。

The application of quantitative approaches to study biology and medicine is identified as an essential progression in future developments of biomedical research. The Molecular Biophysics Training Program (MBTP) at Vanderbilt specifically addresses this need by training students to work at the interface between quantitative molecular approaches and key problems in biology and medicine. Thus, the MBTP provides a deeper grounding in the physical sciences for trainees who have a biological sciences background, and a more thorough exposure to the biological sciences and medicine than is usual for students with a physical sciences or engineering background. Though the program draws its training faculty from nine different departments, it is rooted in an established network of common research and training activities. In additional to the 26 Training Faculty and 58 students, the training environment is greatly enriched by the active participation of ~40 scientific staff and postdoctoral fellows. Beyond a personally designed curriculum for each trainee, the MBTP holds two formal research seminar meetings each month involving the entire molecular biophysics community. The scope of research ranges from the design of small molecule drugs to the structural analysis of multi-protein cellular machinery and from characterization of membrane proteins to following the movement of biomolecules into and out of cells. Research projects involve a broad spectrum of physical, chemical, and computational approaches, including X-ray crystallography, NMR, EPR and fluorescence spectroscopies, mass spectrometry, cryo-electron microscopy, cell imaging and molecular/cellular simulations, often involving multiple approaches. Trainees typically join the MBTP late in their first year of graduate training after choosing a thesis laboratory, and are then supported for two years. Grant support covers the time needed for additional specialized didactic training and the initiation of thesis research. However, all trainees (and their preceptors) remain active in MBTP program activities throughout the duration of their graduate training. RELEVANCE (See instructions): The ultimate goal of Molecular Biophysics is to obtain a quantitative description of the shapes, surface features and network of interactions between the many thousands of molecules that bring a cell to life. Such knowledge provides a direct understanding of normal physiology and the malfunctions that lead to disease, and in turn can be used to develop drug therapies targeted specifically for the defective molecules.