Stanford Immunology seeks to continue its long-standing predoctoral and postdoctoral training program in Molecular and Cellular Immunobiology. The objective of the predoctoral training program is to provide cutting edge training in research and teaching leading to the PhD degree, graduating productive and innovative young scientists prepared for successful careers in immunology and related disciplines. This objective is achieved by providing: research training in the laboratories of faculty whose research encompasses molecular, cellular, clinical, and translational aspects of immunology; courses that are taught by expert faculty and emphasize current research and critical thinking; teaching opportunities in undergraduate and graduate courses; a seminar series featuring outstanding immunologists from across the country; and training in writing research papers and proposals, public speaking, data presentation, and the responsible conduct of research. To provide the best training for each student, the PhD Program in Immunology emphasizes individual advising and mentoring and a curriculum tailored to the interests of each student. Reflecting the increased importance of computational approaches for analyzing and interpreting large data sets and heightened student interest in this area, the PhD Program now offers predoctoral trainees a new curricular track in Computational and Systems Immunology, in parallel to the long-standing track, now called Molecular, Cellular, and Translational Immunology. For postdoctoral trainees the objective of the training program is to provide opportunities for trainees to obtain the skill sets they will need to do work of the highes quality both as postdocs and in their future careers, most of which will be in academia or the biotechnology industry. Although most of the training of postdocs will be in their research laboratories, they can obtain the additional information and competencies that will help them become leaders in their field from classes, workshops, and seminars, including training in the responsible conduct of research. High research standards and innovative and critical thinking are emphasized. Stanford University and the School of Medicine are committed to providing outstanding training to predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees in Immunology and other biosciences, achieved by their provision of fellowships and program support, mentoring and career development resources, and support for centers and institutes (including the Institute for Immunity, Transplantation, and Infection) and numerous state-of-the-art shared research instrumentation facilities. Trainees also benefit from the Stanford Immunology faculty's long tradition of interaction, collaboration, and development of innovative new research technologies. For the next funding period this proposal requests 14 predoctoral training slots, an increase of two reflecting the addition of the new Computational and Systems Immunology track and the growth in the number of faculty from 54 to 71, a 31% increase. Slots for 10 postdoctoral trainees are requested, unchanged from the previous grant period.
The Molecular and Cellular Immunobiology training program at Stanford University will provide predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees cutting-edge research training in basic, clinical, and translational immunology through laboratory research, courses, seminars, individual mentoring, and opportunities to present and discuss their work. Immunology is a field of increasing importance in medicine, as inadequate or inappropriate immune responses are being shown to be involved in an ever-broadening spectrum of diseases and conditions - now including neurodegenerative conditions and metabolic diseases such as Type II diabetes in addition to its known roles in infectious diseases, cancer, autoimmunity, allergies and asthma, and organ transplant rejection. This long-standing training program will continue to graduate productive and innovative young immunologists prepared for successful independent careers in academia and biotechnology, where they will play leading roles in discovering new approaches both for strengthening desired protective immune responses and for preventing undesirable harmful responses.
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