This is a competitive renewal of the ?Minnesota Training Program in Virology? following a highly productive funding period. Discoveries in virology research have led to many fundamental insights into molecular and cellular processes of cells, basic mechanisms of viral replication and pathogenesis, and strategies for how host cells respond to viral infection (i.e., virus-host interactions). Viruses and their capacity to cause serious diseases and death have had a profound impact on the history of humanity and continually threaten global health and economic stability. This training program utilizes 32 accomplished trainers, who are conducting research on a wide variety of important viruses. The Institute for Molecular Virology (IMV) serves as the focal point for virology research at University of Minnesota (UMN) and has championed virology research as a critically important university investment at a time of declining resources. Such investment includes a 80,000- square-foot, $63 million Microbiology Research Facility that opened in 2015 as well as $14 million for additional research infrastructure in the Biomedical Discovery District in the past 8 years. Key highlight's of the training activities of our program include implementation of foundational coursework in virology as well as a wide-range of IMV-sponsored activities attended by both trainees and preceptors that provide important intellectual, technical, and career development opportunities (i.e., weekly Virology Journal Club, monthly IMV Research in Progress seminars, quarterly IMV Innovations in Virus Research Lecture Series, annual UMN-Mayo Distinguished Lectures in Virology & Gene Therapy, the IMV Educational and Career Development Series, the annual IMV Symposium, a collaborative `Wisc-e-sota' T32 symposium, and annual sessions in Responsible Conduct in Research). Trainee participation in these training program activities have fostered the exchange of ideas and stimulated collaborative projects. Oversight of trainee progress is monitored on multiple levels, including yearly evaluations by the training program's executive committee. Outstanding predoctoral trainees are attracted to the UMN. From this pool, outstanding predoctoral trainees are recruited to trainer labs by the individual strength of each trainer's research program. Trainee recruitment is enhanced by the breadth of career development opportunities provided through the IMV that include the hosting of national and international virology meetings that brings students ? including underrepresented minority students ? to our campus to develop long-lasting interactions with all members of our virology research community. Despite being a relatively young training program, we have a strong record of training achievement. To fulfill our training mission with our available resources, we request support for 6 predoctoral positions per year for the next 5-year funding period.

Public Health Relevance

The training of young scientists that will become the next generation of virologists is essential for our nation's capacity to respond to existing, emerging, and future viral diseases. Furthermore, research on viruses continues to lead to fundamental discoveries in biology. Through the Institute for Molecular Virology and this T32 program, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus has established itself as a leader in virology research, with particular strengths in HIV, influenza virus, herpesviruses, along with emerging and other highly pathogenic viruses.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Institutional National Research Service Award (T32)
Project #
2T32AI083196-11
Application #
9855440
Study Section
Microbiology and Infectious Diseases B Subcommittee (MID)
Program Officer
Coomes, Stephanie
Project Start
2010-07-01
Project End
2025-06-30
Budget Start
2020-07-01
Budget End
2021-06-30
Support Year
11
Fiscal Year
2020
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Department
Dentistry
Type
Schools of Dentistry/Oral Hygn
DUNS #
555917996
City
Minneapolis
State
MN
Country
United States
Zip Code
55455
Goldberg, Michael F; Roeske, Elizabeth K; Ward, Lauren N et al. (2018) Salmonella Persist in Activated Macrophages in T Cell-Sparse Granulomas but Are Contained by Surrounding CXCR3 Ligand-Positioned Th1 Cells. Immunity 49:1090-1102.e7
Guo, Liang; Smith, Jennifer A; Abelson, Michelle et al. (2018) Reovirus infection induces stabilization and up-regulation of cellular transcripts that encode regulators of TGF-? signaling. PLoS One 13:e0204622
Ebrahimi, Diako; Richards, Christopher M; Carpenter, Michael A et al. (2018) Genetic and mechanistic basis for APOBEC3H alternative splicing, retrovirus restriction, and counteraction by HIV-1 protease. Nat Commun 9:4137
Guo, Liang; Vlasova-St Louis, Irina; Bohjanen, Paul R (2018) Viral manipulation of host mRNA decay. Future Virol 13:211-223
Shaban, Nadine M; Shi, Ke; Lauer, Kate V et al. (2018) The Antiviral and Cancer Genomic DNA Deaminase APOBEC3H Is Regulated by an RNA-Mediated Dimerization Mechanism. Mol Cell 69:75-86.e9
Maldonado, José O; Mansky, Louis M (2018) The HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase A62V Mutation Influences Replication Fidelity and Viral Fitness in the Context of Multi-Drug-Resistant Mutations. Viruses 10:
Martin, Jessica L; Mendonça, Luiza M; Marusinec, Rachel et al. (2018) Critical Role of the Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 Capsid N-Terminal Domain for Gag-Gag Interactions and Virus Particle Assembly. J Virol 92:
Guo, Liang; Sharma, Suresh D; Debes, Jose et al. (2018) The hepatitis C viral nonstructural protein 5A stabilizes growth-regulatory human transcripts. Nucleic Acids Res 46:2537-2547
Kotov, Dmitri I; Kotov, Jessica A; Goldberg, Michael F et al. (2018) Many Th Cell Subsets Have Fas Ligand-Dependent Cytotoxic Potential. J Immunol 200:2004-2012
Martin, Jessica L; Mendonça, Luiza M; Angert, Isaac et al. (2017) Disparate Contributions of Human Retrovirus Capsid Subdomains to Gag-Gag Oligomerization, Virus Morphology, and Particle Biogenesis. J Virol 91:

Showing the most recent 10 out of 66 publications