T32 Research Training Program in ImmunoEngineering

摘要

Abstract With the burgeoning of the fields of immunology and immunotherapy in the last few decades, the use of pharmaceutical products, biomedical devices, and biomaterials in immunological research and clinical applications has rapidly expanded. Accordingly, there has been an increasing need for engineers trained with the quantitative skills necessary for developing effective immunotherapies and translating these developments to industry. Immunology is a basic science that has a lot of applications that need to be translated to positively impact patients' lives. Most companies working in this area of ImmunoEngineering hire basic scientists since immunology is a basic science, albeit one that has a lot of applications amenable to translation in order to positively impact patients' lives (e.g. anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressive drugs, avoiding transplant rejection, adoptive cell therapy for cancer treatment). However, these individuals do not have training in engineering nor quantitative or systems perspectives. In contrast, engineers are also hired into companies that work in ImmunoEngineering areas, but often they do not have immunology training. The pre-doctoral training program described in this application is aimed to better equip engineers by training them in immunology (as well as in engineering). Funding for four trainees per year is requested for five years. Through this ImmunoEngineering training program, a new type of engineering doctoral trainee is being developed, one who can apply engineering principles with knowledge of immunology to make impacts on new treatments for disease and who will fill a critical gap in existing bioengineers entering today's work force. This training program will furthermore provide translational medicine and ethics training to equip trainees with important “soft skills” such as project and time management, ethics and understanding of the translational aspects of bring a product to market.