Interdisciplinary Training Program Muscle Biology

描述（申请者提供）：该项目为博士后和博士生提供肌肉生物学的跨学科培训。该计划强调骨骼，心脏和平滑肌的功能，结构和分子特性。我们的16名教职员工来自马里兰大学巴尔的摩分校医学院的4个基础科学部门和2个跨部门学位授予项目，以及马里兰大学生物技术研究所的2个部门。附属教师也来自我们的姐妹校区马里兰大学巴尔的摩分校工程学院的一个系。学员来自所有参与的部门和项目。我们提供的培训反映了我们教师背景的多样性，从肌肉发育的分子生物学决定因素和肌肉蛋白质的结构和功能的分子方面，到肌肉细胞骨架和基质的细胞生物学方面，单个肌肉细胞功能的生物物理和生理分析以及整个肌肉和肌肉器官的生物力学特性。我们的教师在肌肉功能和肌肉细胞骨架和基质的钙控制领域是国内和国际公认的。我们的学生将在这些和各种相关领域接受培训，重点是使用几种免费技术来解决调查中的每个问题。博士前培训的主要教学方面将是两个为期一个学期的跨学科肌肉课程，这些课程已经由项目教师定期提供，并受到过去学生团体的好评。i我们建议从第一年和第二年的4名博士预科生开始续期，以增加！第三、四、五学年培养5名博士预科生，开始培养6名博士后，并在资助期内保持这一水平。进入博士预科的学员将继续拥有坚实的生物、化学和/或物理背景，优秀的GRE成绩和强有力的推荐信。即将入职的博士后学员必须完成一篇扎实的博士论文，并有强有力的推荐信。该课程的学员将准备运用广泛的方法来回答肌肉生物学的基本问题，并以肌肉疾病及其可能的治疗或最终治愈为基础。因此，该计划服务于国家需要胜任肌肉功能和疾病的多学科研究人员。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This program provides interdisciplinary training in muscle biology for pre- and postdoctoral students. The program emphasizes the functional, structural and molecular properties of skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscle. Our 16 faculty members come from 4 basic science departments and two interdepartmental degree granting programs at the School of Medicine, University of Maryland at Baltimore, and 2 departments in the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. Affiliate faculty also come from 1 department in the College of Engineering at our sister campus, University of Maryland Baltimore County. Trainees are drawn from all of the participating departments and programs. Reflecting our diversity of faculty backgrounds, the training offered will range from the molecular biological determinants of muscle development and molecular aspects of structure and function of muscle proteins through cell biological aspects of muscle cytoskeleton and matrix, biophysical and physiological analysis of individual muscle cell function and biomechanical properties of whole muscles and muscular organs. Our faculty is nationally and internationally recognized in the areas of calcium control of muscle function and muscle cytoskeleton and matrix. Our students will receive training in these and in a variety of related areas, with emphasis on the use of several complimentary techniques to approach each question under investigation. The: major didactic aspect of the pre-doctoral training will be two one-semester interdisciplinary courses on muscle that are already regularly offered by the program faculty and which have been well received by past student groups. i We propose to begin the renewal period with 4 pre-doctoral trainees in the first and second years, to increase! to 5 pre-docs in the third, fourth and fifth year and to begin with 6 postdoctoral trainees and maintain that level throughout the granting period. Entering pre-doctoral trainees will continue to have a solid background in biology, chemistry and/or physics, excellent GRE scores and strong letters of recommendation. Incoming]' postdoctoral trainees will have completed a solid PhD thesis and have strong letters of recommendation.! Trainees from this program will be prepared to bring a wide range of approaches to bear on answering basic questions in muscle biology and on the bases for muscle diseases and their possible treatment or eventual cure. The program therefore serves a national need for competent multi-disciplinary investigators of muscle function and disease.