This revised renewal application seeks five years of continued funding for a training program in Basic Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (BMID) to support 7 predoctoral trainees with the aim of producing independent investigators capable of sustaining productive research programs studying molecular mechanisms of infectious disease. This program has been active for 27 years. The program comprises 16 faculty preceptors from 7 departments (Molecular Genetics &Microbiology, Biochemistry &Molecular Biology, Infectious Diseases and Pathology, Oral Biology, Pediatrics, Pathology, Immunology &Laboratory Medicine, and Medicine) within the Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine in the Health Science Center at the University of Florida. The program faculty include bacteriologists (Brown, Gulig, Morris, Progulske-Fox and Southwick), virology (Bloom, Berns, Byrne, Condit, Flanegan, Goodenow, Moyer, McFadden, and Muzyczka), and mycology (Lewin and Nguyen). The program faculty have expertise in genetics, cell biology, pathogenesis, immunology, epidemiology and molecular biology. The program faculty also includes clinician scientists (Berns, Byrne, Morris and Southwick), thus reinforcing the clinical relevance and application of microbiology and infectious disease. Predoctoral trainees are recruited and initially trained in collaboration with the College of Medicine's Interdisciplinary Program in biomedical Sciences (IDP). The pool of trainee candidates averages 53 per year, they come from throughout the US, and they average combined verbal and quantitative GRE scores of 1250 and GPAs of 3.5. The IDP provides comprehensive classroom training, an introductory laboratory, laboratory rotations, and advanced course work in specialized disciplines. Subsequent training focuses on independent laboratory research supplemented with program-specific activities stressing communications skills. Predoctoral training requires a total of approximately 5 years. This training program provides a strong interdisciplinary infrastructure for enhancing the training of scientists in the area of infectious disease. This will increase the number of researchers trained to study the molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of disease and develop therapies for diseases of humans caused by a wide range of microbial agents.
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