Training in Mechanisms of Parasitism

描述（由申请人提供）：“寄生”是指微生物成功入侵并在宿主体内生存。微生物使用各种策略来逃避或抑制宿主的防御，并成功地寄生在哺乳动物宿主身上。这一应用是基于不同的寄生生物面临相似的障碍的假设，因此设计了相关的策略来在哺乳动物宿主环境中生存。微生物和宿主基因组学、蛋白质组学和成像技术的进步极大地增强了科学家们解决这两个问题的工具，即微生物的生存机制和宿主的防御策略。因此，研究原生动物、细菌和病毒病原体的科学家可以相互学习。这个机制的寄生培训计划代表了寄生虫学，细菌发病机制，病毒发病机制和免疫学领域的结合到一个单一的计划。其目标是加强爱荷华大学在这些学科的实验室之间的合作研究和培训，并在此过程中为受训者的发展提供丰富的环境。“寄生机制”项目自启动以来的9年里，资助了32名学员，每年举办一次研究静修，连续举办每周期刊/研究俱乐部会议，赞助外部演讲者，并为学员提供集中的计算机化设备。在本次申请中，我们提出：(1)在现有的3名博士生和3名博士后的基础上，增加支持4名博士生和3名博士后；(2)将我们的核心设施扩展到实时PCR机，由爱荷华大学的DNA核心维护；(3)启动夏季系列研讨会，让在数字成像、生物信息学、微阵列、蛋白质组学和基因组分析方面具有专业知识的教师直接与学员合作；(4)发起培训邀请演讲者；(5)建立外部和内部的评价过程。我们的目标是继续保持一个富有成效的环境，以便在从事微生物感染不同方面工作的教师和学员之间交流创造性的想法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): "Parasitism" refers to the successful invasion of and survival within a host by a microbe. Microbes use various strategies to evade or suppress host defenses and successfully parasitize a mammalian host. This application is based upon the hypothesis that different parasitic organisms face similar obstacles, and therefore design related strategies to survive in the mammalian host environment. Progress in microbial and host genomics, proteomics, and imaging technology has greatly enhanced the tools available to scientists in addressing both sides of the equation, i.e., the survival mechanisms of the microbe and the defense strategies of the host. Consequently, scientists studying protozoal, bacterial, and viral pathogens can learn from one another. This Mechanisms of Parasitism training program represents a union between the fields of parasitology, bacterial pathogenesis, viral pathogenesis and immunology into a single program. Its goal is to enhance collaborative research and training among laboratories at the University of Iowa specializing in these disciplines, and in the process provide a rich environment for the development of trainees. In the nine years since its beginning, the Mechanisms of Parasitism program has funded 32 trainees, conducted annual research retreats, continuously held a weekly Journal/Research Club meeting, sponsored outside speakers, and provided centralized computerized equipment to trainees. In this application we propose to: (1) increase support to 4 predoctoral and 3 postdoctoral trainees from the current 3 predoctoral and 3 postdoctoral trainees; (2) expand our core facilities to a real-time PCR machine, maintained by the DNA core of the University of Iowa; (3) initiate a summer seminar series in which faculty with expertise in digital imaging, bioinformatics, microarrays, proteomics, and genome analysis work directly with trainees; (4) initiate trainee-invited speakers; and (5) institute an outside and internal evaluation process. Our goal is to continue to maintain a productive environment for exchange of creative ideas among faculty and trainees working on different aspects of microbial infection.