Molecular Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases

描述(由申请人提供)：此申请是我们在科罗拉多大学医学院的传染病分子病理学博士前培训计划的第一次竞争性更新。这一新兴的研究领域包括微生物毒力因子、宿主抗性机制、感染过程中基因表达调控的分子生物学和生化研究、在感染中发挥关键作用的微生物和宿主细胞分子的结构-功能分析、细菌和病毒与体外分化的宿主细胞的相互作用分析，以及使用野生型或转基因菌株的微生物和宿主动物的动物模型中细菌和病毒感染的研究。我们的培训人员高度互动，在这些领域的创新研究方面证明了生产力，从NIH和其他授予机构获得了成功的研究资金，并在培训博士生预科方面拥有丰富的经验，这些方法是进行传染病发病机制尖端研究所需的多学科方法。除了完成导师指导的研究项目外，我们的受训人员还将参加一项全面的教学课程、研讨会、杂志俱乐部和研究进展会议，培训他们识别重要的新研究问题，使用各种分子、细胞和体内技术设计良好控制的实验，批判性地评估和展示结果，理解并将伦理原则应用于他们的研究。学生只有在完成了所有必修课程，通过了初步和全面的考试，并开始进行论文研究后，才被选为该培训计划的受聘人员。我们综合的跨部门培训计划的广度将为学生在学术界或生物技术领域的创新职业生涯做好准备。这一充满活力的新培训计划非常成功。它促进了新的研究合作和拨款，改进了课程，并促进了博士前学员之间的跨学科互动。在我们的传染病分子病理学培训项目开始的4年里，我们的培训教师从19人增加到21人，教研室博士前学员从21人稳定增加到31人。目前，这项培训补助金每年只为3000名受训人员提供一年的支助。我们要求在06-07年度提供4个职位，为每年任命的3名学员中的1名提供为期2年的承诺，并在08-10年度申请5个职位，以资助额外一名学员，其研究重点将是与生物防御或新出现的传染病病原体有关的感染分子机制。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is for the first competing renewal of our pre-doctoral training program on The Molecular Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. This emerging area of research encompasses molecular biological and biochemical studies on microbial virulence factors, host resistance mechanisms, regulation of gene expression during infection, structure-function analysis of microbial and host cell molecules that play key roles in infections, analysis of interactions of bacteria and viruses with differentiated host cells in vitro, and studies on bacterial and viral infections in animal models using either wild type or genetically modified strains of microbes and host animals. The highly interactive members of our training faculty have proven productivity for innovative research in these areas, successful research funding from NIH and other granting agencies, and extensive experience in training pre-doctoral students in the multidisciplinary approaches needed for cutting edge research on the pathogenesis of infectious diseases. In addition to performing their mentored research projects, our trainees will participate in a comprehensive program of didactic courses, seminars, journal clubs, and research-in-progress meetings which will train them to identify important new research questions, design well-controlled experiments using a wide variety of molecular, cellular and in vivo techniques, critically evaluate and present their results, and understand and apply principles of ethics to their research. Students are selected for appointment to this training program only after they have completed all of their required courses, passed their preliminary and comprehensive examinations and begun their dissertation research. The breadth of our integrated, interdepartmental training program will prepare students for innovative careers in academia or biotechnology. This dynamic new training program has been extremely successful. It has fostered new research collaborations and grants, improved the curriculum, and fostered interdisciplinary interactions among the pre-doctoral trainees. In the 4 years since our training program on the Molecular Pathogenesis of Infectious Diseases began, our training faculty increased from 19 to 21, and the steady state number of predoctoral trainees in faculty labs grew from 21 to 31. Currently this training grant provides only one year of support for 3 trainees each year. We request 4 positions in years 06-07 to provide a 2-year commitment for 1 of the 3 trainees appointed each year and 5 positions in years 08-10 to fund one additional trainee whose research will focus on molecular mechanisms of infection related to biodefense or emerging infectious disease agents.