Despite advances in public health and medical therapeutics, infectious diseases continue to represent the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and extract a considerable financial and societal toll even in developed countries due to factors such as emerging pathogens, AIDS or other immunocompromising conditions, and antimicrobial resistance. The training of new scientists who can elucidate basic mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis will be critical for the formulation of improved strategies to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases. This new application for support of a Training Program in Bacterial Pathogenesis centers around an established and highly interactive interdisciplinary research community at the University of Washington. Six pre- and six post-doctoral trainees from diverse backgrounds in basic and clinical sciences will be mentored by a faculty of 15 scientists from the Departments of Microbiology, Pathobiology, and Genome Sciences, as well as the Divisions of Adult and Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Candidates will be recruited from several outstanding applicant pools, and qualified trainees from underrepresented minority groups will be actively sought. The training faculty has a distinguished track record in NIH-supported bacterial pathogenesis research, documented success in the mentoring of predoctoral and postdoctoral scientists, and access to excellent scientific resources and infrastructure. Research projects encompass important Gram-positive, Gram-negative, mycobacterial, chlamydial, and spirochetal pathogens, including attention to biochemical, genetic, molecular, cell biological, and immunological aspects of host-pathogen interactions. Trainees will benefit from a comprehensive curriculum that includes core courses in molecular bacteriology, immunology, and scientific ethics, a bi-weekly work-in-progress meeting, pathogenesis journal club, clinical microbiology rounds, and a wide range of seminars and infectious diseases clinical conferences. The overall goal of this program is to prepare scientists to use an interdisciplinary and hypothesis-driven approach to obtain new insights into mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis that can lead to novel approaches for the prevention and management of infectious diseases.
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