The Infectious Diseases Training Program is in its 34th year. The objective is to provide a rich interdisciplinary experience in infectious diseases research in order to prepare our trainees for careers as independent investigators. The cornerstone is the side-by-side education of predoctoral, M.D. and Ph.D. postdoctoral fellows. The rationale is that integration of clinical and basic science provides the varied perspectives and techniques required for creative research to combat infections. The design includes a an Executive Committee that selects predoctoral trainees from a pool of rising 2nd year graduate students, and selects postdoctoral applicants based on nominations from both mentors and the Infectious Diseases Division. Training is enriched by the monthly Research in Progress for trainees chaired by the Director, graduate courses taught by Program faculty, MS & MPH degrees in clinical investigation, seminars, research day, annual faculty retreat and journal clubs. Trainees are also taught the responsible conduct of research and are provided instruction in grant writing and laboratory and project management. The 27 faculty are 96% NIH supported (mean annual direct costs $852,000), interactive, senior (18/26 full Professors, although select up and coming junior faculty are included), from 8 Departments, with 20 PhDs, 11 MDs, and 1 DVM. The average mentor trained 7 pre- and 9 postdocs in the last 10 years, 94% of whom remain in research. Evaluation of the Program includes an annual faculty retreat, trainee and graduate questionnaire and External Advisory Committee site visits. Institutional support includes funding of all 1st year predoctoral fellows, the seminar series, and construction of a new research building occupied last year by 53% (16/27) of mentors. NIH support is requested for 5 predoctoral, 5 M.D. and 2 Ph.D. postdoctoral fellows (no change from the prior funding period). The average matriculated predoctoral student in Infectious Diseases Program has GRE scores of 570/704/4.7 and a grade point average of 3.63. Admission is highly competitive, with only 31% (5/16) of rising 2nd year predoctoral trainees accepted by the Program in 2010 despite their expressed interest in infectious diseases and their excellent qualifications. Progress since the last funding period includes 100% retention of trainees in the Program, and a 24% increase in mentor extramural support. 97% of predoctoral and 90% of postdoctoral fellows graduates in the last 10 years remain in research. Peer-reviewed original publications average 3.5 for graduating fellows. Underrepresented minorities comprise 15% of postdoctoral fellows for both the last 5 and 10 years, and 28% (5/18) and 25% (5/20) of predoctoral fellows supported for the last 5 and 10 respectively (including for predocs individuals with disabilities and disadvantaged). For the 10 year period, 21% of trainees are under-represented minority, disabled or disadvantaged. Academic and research positions are held by 84% (21/25) of postdoctoral and 95% (19/20) of predoctoral graduates, and 7 K awards and 3 individual fellowships have been awarded.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Institutional National Research Service Award (T32)
Project #
5T32AI007046-39
Application #
8866341
Study Section
Microbiology and Infectious Diseases B Subcommittee (MID)
Program Officer
Robbins, Christiane M
Project Start
1977-07-01
Project End
2016-06-30
Budget Start
2015-07-01
Budget End
2016-06-30
Support Year
39
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Virginia
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
065391526
City
Charlottesville
State
VA
Country
United States
Zip Code
22904
Schnee, Amanda E; Haque, Rashidul; Taniuchi, Mami et al. (2018) Evaluation of Two New Membrane-Based and Microtiter Plate Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays for Detection of Campylobacter jejuni in Stools of Bangladeshi Children. J Clin Microbiol 56:
Quinones, Addison; Le, Anne (2018) The Multifaceted Metabolism of Glioblastoma. Adv Exp Med Biol 1063:59-72
Sazeides, Christos; Le, Anne (2018) Metabolic Relationship between Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts and Cancer Cells. Adv Exp Med Biol 1063:149-165
Gray, Megan E; Rogawski McQuade, Elizabeth T; Scheld, W Michael et al. (2018) Rising rates of injection drug use associated infective endocarditis in Virginia with missed opportunities for addiction treatment referral: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Infect Dis 18:532
Rowley, Carol A; Anderson, Christopher J; Kendall, Melissa M (2018) Ethanolamine Influences Human Commensal Escherichia coli Growth, Gene Expression, and Competition with Enterohemorrhagic E. coli O157:H7. MBio 9:
Suzich, Jon B; Cliffe, Anna R (2018) Strength in diversity: Understanding the pathways to herpes simplex virus reactivation. Virology 522:81-91
Handing, Jonathan W; Ragland, Stephanie A; Bharathan, Urmila V et al. (2018) The MtrCDE Efflux Pump Contributes to Survival of Neisseria gonorrhoeae From Human Neutrophils and Their Antimicrobial Components. Front Microbiol 9:2688
Weddle, Erin; Agaisse, Hervé (2018) Spatial, Temporal, and Functional Assessment of LC3-Dependent Autophagy in Shigella flexneri Dissemination. Infect Immun 86:
Schnee, Amanda E; Haque, Rashidul; Taniuchi, Mami et al. (2018) Identification of Etiology-Specific Diarrhea Associated With Linear Growth Faltering in Bangladeshi Infants. Am J Epidemiol 187:2210-2218
Stevens, Jacqueline S; Criss, Alison K (2018) Pathogenesis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the female reproductive tract: neutrophilic host response, sustained infection, and clinical sequelae. Curr Opin Hematol 25:13-21

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