The goal of this program is to provide pre-doctoral students with strong research training in specific basic science disciplines in combination with broad training in parasitology. Parasitic diseases remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality in humans and have an important impact on food safety and production. Most of these diseases are associated with tropical and subtropical areas and characterized as Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), but they are not limited to developing countries and many have recently emerged or re-emerged in temperate regions. Penn has a vibrant program in Parasitology and members of this T32 program have diverse interests and study at least 16 different parasitic infections. This program has evolved from 8 faculty in 1998 with a strong emphasis on immune-parasitology to a group of 14 faculty who are involved in basic research that includes immune- parasitology, cell and molecular biology of these organism, as well as their population biology. These form the underlying core of our program. The faculty participants in this proposal have primary appointments in the Schools of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and Arts and Sciences and in the last 20 years this T32 has provided support for 35 graduate students. The majority of these trainees have gone on to successful careers in Parasitology or related disciplines. Each faculty member offers strong research training in a basic science discipline as it relates to Parasitology. As a group, we also offer didactic training in parasitology and provide an environment in which students will gain an appreciation for broader aspects of parasitic disease research.
Parasitic diseases remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality in humans and have an important impact on food safety and production. The goal of this program is to provide students with strong research training in basic science disciplines in combination with broad training in parasitology systems. These individuals will then be better equipped to develop new strategies to treat or prevent these infections.
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