Structural and Computational Biophysics Training Program

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案寻求国家普通医学科学研究所 (NIGMS) 分子生物物理学项目的 NRSA 机构博士前培训补助金的资助。这笔赠款将支持结构和计算生物物理学（SCB）的博士前培训，从而获得博士学位。维克森林大学学士学位。 SCB 培训计划的目标是弥合生物医学科学和更基础的定量科学之间的培训差距。 SCB 培训师资队伍跨部门高度协作，包括来自物理、化学、生物化学和分子医学的教职人员。学生接受结构生物学（X 射线和核磁共振）、计算生物学、蛋白质组学和生物物理学方面的培训。 SCB 培训计划的主要科学主题包括 DNA 损伤和修复、氧化还原生物学和分子信号传导的重叠领域。该计划拥有灵活的课程，旨在满足计划中学生的个人需求，并包括完善的跨学科研讨会和教程系统，以促进计划成员之间的互动。除了 SCB 培训教师外，他们还将担任博士生导师。除了学生之外，我们还拥有完善的资源教师网络，通过教育创新、对结构生物学和生物物理学培训至关重要的核心实验室的指导，以及提供职业建议和与生物技术行业的联系，为研究生的培训做出贡献。我们为博士生的各种潜在职业提供专门的技能培训。毕业生，包括学术职业、生物技术和制药行业的职业以及知识产权领域的职业。我们开发了一个管道，物理、数学和计算机科学硕士学位的学生可以获得结构和计算生物物理学证书，从而过渡到博士学位。我们计划中的培训。同样，我们在吸引博士方面拥有出色的记录。从事结构和计算研究的生物科学学生。我们有一个积极的计划，从科学领域代表性不足的种族群体中招募学生加入我们的培训计划。培训教师实验室中 25-30 名稳定水平的学生中，需要为 4 个博士前职位申请资助。这些职位将用于支持第二年或以后的学生，届时他们的论文研究显然与该计划的目标一致。支持期限最长为两年，之后学生将获得导师的研究经费或个人奖学金的支持。 公共健康相关性：科学桥接联盟（Coalition for Bridging the Sciences）是一个由来自 13 个不同科学学会的代表组成的团体，该组织已将生物医学科学与更多定量基础科学（如数学、物理和化学）之间的接口确定为一个主要差距，代表着我们国家研究工作中大量错失的机会。维克森林大学结构和计算生物物理培训项目的目标是通过将物理、化学、生物化学和医学系的教师聚集到一个跨学科项目来培训博士生，从而弥补这一差距。学生。这些学生将继续在学术界、生物技术和制药行业以及知识产权领域就业，他们的跨学科培训可以满足这一重要的国家需求。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal seeks funding for an NRSA Institutional Predoctoral Training Grant from the Molecular Biophysics Program of the National Institute for General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). This grant will support predoctoral training in Structural and Computational Biophysics (SCB) leading to a Ph.D. degree at Wake Forest University. The goal of the SCB Training Program is to bridge the gap in training between biomedical sciences and more basic quantitative sciences. The SCB training faculty is highly collaborative across departmental lines, and includes faculty members from Physics, Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Molecular Medicine. Students are trained in structural biology (X-ray and NMR), computational biology, proteomics, and biophysics. The major scientific themes of the SCB Training Program include the overlapping areas of DNA damage and repair, redox biology, and molecular signaling. The Program has a flexible curriculum that is designed to meet the individual needs of the students in the program, and includes a well-developed system of interdisciplinary seminars and tutorials to promote interaction among members of the program. In addition to the SCB training faculty, who will serve as mentors for Ph.D. students, we also have a well-established network of resource faculty that contribute to the training of graduate students through educational innovation, direction of Core Laboratories that are central to training in structural biology and biophysics, and provision of career advice and networking with biotechnology industries. We offer specific training in skills for a wide variety of potential careers for our Ph.D. graduates, including academic careers, careers in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, as well as careers in the intellectual property arena. We have developed a pipeline in which Masters' degree students in Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science can obtain a certificate in Structural and Computational Biophysics that provides a transition into Ph.D. training in our program. Similarly, we have an excellent track record of engaging Ph.D. students in biological sciences in structural and computational research. We have an active program of recruiting students from ethnic groups that are underrepresented in science into our training program. Funding is requested for 4 predoctoral positions out of the steady state level of 25-30 students in the laboratories of the training faculty. These positions will be used to support students in the second year or beyond, at which time it will be apparent that their dissertation research is consistent with the goals of the Program. Support will be for a maximum of two years, after which the students will be supported by the research funding of their advisors or their own individual fellowships. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The Coalition for Bridging the Sciences, a group composed of representatives from 13 different scientific societies has identified the interface between the biomedical sciences and more quantitative basic sciences, such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry, as a major gap that represents substantial missed opportunities in our national research effort. The goal of the Structural and Computational Biophysics Training Program at Wake Forest University is to bridge this gap by bringing together faculty from the Departments of Physics, Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Medicine into an interdisciplinary program to train Ph.D. students. These students will go on to careers in academia, the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, and the intellectual property arena in which their interdisciplinary training can serve to fill this important national need.