This application seeks support for an established Training Program in Sleep Research which offers predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows interdisciplinary training in a wide range of scientific disciplines that are central to the future of sleep research. Training will occur at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago by faculty who have an established track record for integrating the strengths of the two Universities for the performance of research and the training of students in sleep research, chronobiology and related disciplines. The combined research of the nine Primary Training Faculty will enable trainees to integrate cutting edge approaches and techniques in the areas of genetics, genomics, endocrinology, pharmacology, neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, gerontology and chronobiology into their training in sleep research. Because the preceptors in this Training Program are actively involved in research at the molecular, cellular, systems and behavioral levels, trainees will be trained in a rich environment of activities that are integrated together for the study of the basic mechanisms of sleep at all levels of biological organization. A key feature of this Training Program will be the training of students and fellows in both modem basic oriented research as well as patient oriented research using both animal models and humans for the study of sleep. The present training program has expanded from its original 5 preceptors to 9 preceptors which provides the trainees with a truly multidisciplinary program for training in sleep research in the context of cutting edge research in broader biomedical research areas such as cardiovascular physiology, respiratory biology, metabolism and functional genomics. Support is requested for four predoctoral and five postdoctoral students. Only graduate students who have completed most of their course work and who have demonstrated a clear commitment to sleep research will be supported by this Program. Postdoctoral fellows will be selected from recent graduates of a PhD and/or MD program who have research experience in sleep, or in a related field, and who have a clear commitment to at least two years of training in the Sleep Research Program. The preceptors in this Training Program have built successful individual as well as collaborative research programs that are of central importance to sleep research, and this Training Grant will enable them to utilize the strengths of these integrated research programs for the training of the next generation of sleep researchers.
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