This proposal seeks renewal for UCLA's predoctoral Cellular and Molecular Biology Training Program. Now in its 35th year, the program has trained 474 Ph.D. candidates for careers in biomedical research and education. These students have gone on to make discoveries that have improved human health and we expect that future trainees will also follow in their footsteps with the training received here. The program is interdepartmental and includes faculty and students in the both the UCLA College and the School of Medicine, including the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry;Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology;Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics;Biological Chemistry;and Neurobiology, as well as, the Interdepartmental Program in Molecular Biology. There are currently 32 training faculty with primary appointments in nine departments, including those listed above and Medicine, Pediatrics, Human Genetics and Molecular and Medical Pharmacology. Major research areas include biochemistry, cell biology, developmental biology, gene expression, macromolecular structure, molecular and cellular immunology, neurobiology, virology and microbial pathology. Trainees are self-nominated from each of the six Ph.D. programs involved. Students are selected on a highly competitive basis using the criteria of their academic and research achievements. Appointments are made for a maximum period of three years. In addition to meeting the University and Departmental or Program requirements for their degrees, trainees participate in a research ethics course, as well as in seminars and conferences organized by the Training Program. This proposal requests stipends for 45 trainees. The facilities are those of a major undergraduate and graduate campus of approximately 35,000 students that includes a medical school faculty. All of the departments involved in this program are in close proximity to each other and to the interdepartmental Molecular Biology Institute, which facilitates interactions of both students and faculty.
This training program strives to produce the next generation of cell and molecular biologists who reflect our diversity and ethical standards and who are poised to take full advantage of the developing new fields such as proteomics, systems biology, and bioinformatics. The foundation of our program is the research training provided by our faculty, complemented by course work, seminars, and programs designed specifically for our trainees.
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