Interdisciplinary training in immunity and microbial infection

About This Grant

Project Summary The Immunity and Microbial Infection (IMI) training program at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) will provide interdisciplinary research training to five predoctoral trainees per year over a five- year period. Training the scientist in immunology and its relationship to infectious diseases, as well as to other related disciplines such as biochemistry, physiology, and cell biology, will be crucial for the future of IMI-related sciences. The overall goal of the training program is to produce interactive, productive, highly trained investigators with state-of-the-art skills who will be capable of contributing to the next generation of scientific discovery in IMI-related basic, translational, and clinical research. The program is unique in that it encompasses faculty from OUHSC and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) that have a strong focus on immunology and microbial pathogenesis. There is a long history of collaborative research and training between members of the proposed IMI training program at OUHSC/OMRF, with strong NIH funded research programs, new faculty, and extensive facilities all of which foster an atmosphere of excellence in training. Most predoctoral trainees are recruited nationally and internationally through the OUHSC Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences (GPiBS) interdisciplinary umbrella program, which provides an excellent pool of predoctoral students. The predoctoral students will be eligible for the training program after successfully passing the qualifying exam. Trainees will be selected for funding on a competitive basis, after a thorough review of their accomplishments and future plans by IMI training program advisory and selection committees. Progress of trainees will be reviewed throughout the year and appointments will be competitively renewed yearly with a maximum of three years of support for predoctoral trainees. Symposium days, journal club classes, workshops on emerging technologies, and work in progress presentations will be effective in bringing our predoctoral trainees together with the training faculty in an environment that fosters excellence. Participation in courses is devoted to ethics and accountability in biomedical research, rigor and reproducibility, and mentoring. Trainees will have multiple opportunities to present their work at national/international meetings. Further, the IMI training program will emphasize the development of scientific writing skills to facilitate successful publication of peer-reviewed articles and preparation of grant applications. Development of career objectives will be guided by the trainee’s Individual Development Plan (IDP). There is currently a lack of federally funded training programs in IMI-related research in Oklahoma and surrounding states. This training program will address this need by providing the crucial resources needed to prepare trainees for future careers focused on basic, translational, and clinical research in microbiology and immunology.