MCP NIH Training Grant Information Mission and objectives of the program: Support from the NIH Training Grant has been used to promote predoctoral training in modern pharmacology by integrating the basic principles of pharmacology using an interdisciplinary approach. The training emphasis is on molecular, biochemical, transgenic model systems, and cellular approaches that both modify and elucidate molecular interactions and signaling pathways that govern the behavior of cells and organisms. Such interactions and signals may originate at the cell surface, within the cytoplasm and its constituent organelles, or in the nucleus; they may involve effector molecules as diverse as ions, cyclic nucleotides, lipid messengers, proteins (receptors, enzymes, growth factors), complex carbohydrates, and nucleic acids. The signals may take the form of direct activating events, such as activation of kinases/phosphatases, or events such as the targeting of effector molecules, such as enzymes that alter transcriptional events. The training in modification of these pathways may focus on agonist/antagonist interactions with receptors, chemical inhibitors, or genetic mechanisms of modulating signaling pathways from C. elegans to man. The goal is to provide training in molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying and composing modern pharmacology. The trainees also receive didactic training in medical pharmacology and therapeutics with an emphasis on understanding current knowledge underpinning pharmacokinetics and the use of drugs to treat human disease and the basics of drug development. Training focus: The students awarded stipends will adhere to the standards, curriculum, and administrative structure of the Graduate Program as a whole and will choose elective courses and research projects that provide training in molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying modern pharmacology. The research interests of the trainers have led us to establish four focal areas of research training. These focal areas of research are: Cancer Pharmacology, Cardiovascular Pharmacology, Neuropharmacology, and Biochemical, Endocrine, and organismal Pharmacology. These four focal areas are bound together with the Program focus in MCP and research in cellular signaling mechanisms. Each of the focal areas has trainers and trainees who are highly interactive and collaborate and/or have joint lab meetings and journal clubs on a regular basis. Trainee Candidates Admissions: The majority of trainees will be selected from students who apply to the Graduate Program in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology. This umbrella Program attracts students from across the United States and the world. A lesser but important source will be students with interests in pharmacology who apply to other campus graduate programs, such as Cell and Molecular Biology, Oncology, Biomolecular Chemistry, Physiology, Biochemistry, Genetics, or Chemistry and who choose to work in a Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Program trainer's laboratory and fulfill the training requirements of the Program (see discussion below). A substantial source of students will be from the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) as this cohort of students fulfill key course requirements in their M.D./Ph.D. curriculum. As described earlier, for the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Graduate Program, the Admissions Committee screens the applicants. Criteria for admission are performance on GRE Exams, GPAs, letters of recommendation, research experience, the student's statement of purpose, and the interview. Trainees who accept an offer of admission rotate through at least three or four laboratories during their first year and choose a major professor with whom to study. Our intent in renewing this award is to support the training of a portion of the students in the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Graduate Program. The Graduate Program, with 46 active faculty, plans to admit students for a class size of about 8-10 students per year for a total student group of 50-55 running average. This targeted class size is statistically less then half the number of openings in Program faculty laboratories, insuring that all of the students are placed in active, well-funded laboratories. We are requesting stipends that will fund about 20% of these students. The Training Grant will be used as a recruiting tool to fund the most excellent applicants. Some students who excel after
matriculating in the Program will be nominated for support. For these
students, the primary considerations on the part of the Fellowships Committee
will be the relevance of the nominee's proposed training project to the
stated mission of the Training Grant, academic excellence, and research
progress exemplified by publication of his/her research results. About
half of the TG positions have been awarded to senior students. |
