UCSF/UCB Joint Graduate Group in BIoengineering

描述(由申请者提供)：本提案旨在为学生在加州大学旧金山分校/加州大学伯克利分校生物工程联合研究生小组(JBBG)的头两年获得培训补助金和相关支持。在过去的25年里，JBBG向221名学生授予了生物工程博士学位，其中86人获得了NIH培训助学金。这种津贴是JGGB独特结构的支柱，该结构要求学生在头两年获得经济支持。这头两年的准备包括工程学和生物医学科学的密集课程作业，以及三次实验室轮换，这对学生选择合适的论文研究主题是必不可少的。在晚些时候，学生通过他们的研究导师获得经济支持。JGGB架起了两个优势互补的加州大学校区的桥梁：加州大学旧金山分校是领先的健康科学机构，加州大学伯克利分校的工程学院是全国领先的物理科学学院。为学生提供的培训环境的广度和深度是一个部门无法提供的。来自25个系的170多名教职员工参加了JGGB。他们的实验室包括一系列最先进的设施。学术和智力环境促进了物理科学和生命科学之间的无缝互动，并培训学生解决复杂的生物学问题，强调翻译研究是非常必要的。JGGB在这种整合方面有着既定的记录，而合作机会的广度是该项目被构建为让学生在承诺论文项目之前花两年时间专注于各种实验室轮换和课程作业的原因之一。随着加州大学旧金山分校和加州大学伯克利分校最近生物工程研究和教育项目的扩大，培养研究生的能力有所增加，学生人数从148人增加到173人。这笔培训补助金是向学生提供的一揽子支助计划的重要组成部分，因此对于确保他们在目前竞争激烈的环境中蓬勃发展来说，它变得越来越重要。由于符合资格的申请者远远超过JGGB可以录取的学生人数，我们要求在下一个资助周期内将名额从目前建议的17人增加到25人。生物工程师能够整合不同领域的原理，从而跨越基础科学进步和临床应用之间的差距，这一独特的能力将该领域的培训人员置于推进转化性研究议程的关键时刻，最近NIH内的新组织强调了这一点。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal aims to secure training grant stipends and associated support for students during their first two years in the UCSF/UCB Joint Graduate Group in Bioengineering (JBBG). Over the past 25 years, the JBBG has awarded Ph.D.s in Bioengineering to 221 students, with 86 of these receiving stipends from this NIH Training Grant Award. Such stipends are the backbone for the unique JGGB structure, which requires that students have financial support during their first two years. These initial two years of preparation include intensive course work in engineering and the biomedical sciences, as well as three laboratory rotations, are essential to the students in selecting appropriate dissertation research topics. In later year the students receive financial support through their research mentor. The JGGB bridges two University of California campuses that possess complementary strengths: UCSF is a leading Health Sciences institution and UC Berkeley's Engineering School is a national leader in the physical sciences. The breadth and depth of the training environment offered to students is of an order larger than a single department could provide. Over 170 faculty based in 25 departments participate in the JGGB. Their laboratories include an array of state-of-the art facilities. An academic and intellectual environment fosters seamless interaction between physical and life sciences and that trains students to solve complex biological problems with an emphasis on translational research is in high demand. The JGGB has an established record of such integration, and the breadth of opportunity for collaboration is one of the reasons that the program is structured to have students spend two years concentrating on a variety of laboratory rotations and course work prior to committing to their dissertation project. With the recent expansion of Bioengineering research and educational programs at UCSF and UCB, the capacity for training graduate students has increased and the size of the student body has grown from 148 to 173. This training grant is a critical component of the support package that students are offered, and it has therefore become increasingly important for ensuring that they flourish in the present competitive environment. Because qualified applicants far exceed the number of students that can be admitted into the JGGB, we are requesting an increase in the number of slots during the next funding cycle from the current recommended level of 17 to 25 students. The unique ability for bioengineers to integrate principles from diverse fields and thereby span the gap between advances in basic science and clinical utilization places individuals trained in this field at a critical point in advancing a translational research agenda that has been recently highlighted by new organizations within the NIH.