Glycoscience Training Program

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Complex carbohydrates or glycans are one of the four classes of macromolecules of life along with nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids. These biomolecules are involved in essentially all physiological or pathological processes. Recently, the National Research Council of The National Academies reviewed the importance and opportunities of Glycoscience, and the resulting report entitled "Transforming Glycoscience: A Road Map for the Future" highlights the importance of education to further this field of research. We propose in this application a new graduate training program in Glycoscience at the Chemistry and Biology interface to begin to address the noted deficiency in graduate education in this increasingly important field of research. Because of its considerable demonstrated expertise and cohesive research and educational programs in Glycoscience, we believe the faculty of the University of Georgia is uniquely qualified to develop such a graduate training program. Although UGA has a long-standing track-record in Glycoscience, no formal graduate training program in this area has been in place. Over the past four years, the private Cousins Foundation supported two to four incoming graduate students in Glycoscience for two years; it is however, no longer in place. This program has functioned as a "pilot" program for the T32 Glycoscience Training Program (GTP) application, supporting CHEM and BCMB graduate students. The proposed T32 program will allow us to develop a Chemistry/Biology interface program and provide a blueprint of predoctoral training in Glycoscience. The 17 training faculty of the Glycoscience Training Program (GTP) has primary and secondary appointments in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Chemistry departments, which are part of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. The mission of the program is to train predoctoral students rigorously and broadly in Glycoscience by integrating both chemical and biological approaches. In addition, emphasis will be placed on recruiting students from under-represented minorities, bioethics training, and developing students' excellent writing and communication skills.