We are requesting continued support for our predoctoral training program """"""""Graduate Training in Nutrition"""""""". The overall goal of our program is to train individuals to become leading investigators in the field of nutritional science who will contribute substantially to modern biomedical research. This training program consists of a highly structured didactic component and a mentored research component. Support from this training grant was the key ingredient that allowed this training program in nutrition to grow from 6 Ph.D. students and 11 faculty in 1989 to its present steady-state size of ~30 Ph.D. students and 37 faculty. For the previous grant period, we received support for 5 Ph.D. students per year (plus supplemental support for one underrepresented minority student). Because of the growth and achievements of our training program, we are requesting support for 7 Ph.D. students per year in this renewal application. This training program is broadly focused on the nutritional sciences. The didactic training required of our students consists of graduate level basic science and nutrition courses, as well as electives in basic science, nutritional science, and public health courses. In addition, all Ph.D. students participate in the Doctoral Seminar and Reviews in Nutrition course throughout their residence in the training program. The majority of the 37 faculty for this training program have laboratory based research programs focused on nutrients or nutrition-related diseases like diabetes or cardiovascular disease. However, our faculty and the training available to our students are also strong in the areas of clinical nutrition and public health nutrition. The strategy of this training program is to first provide trainees with structured training that is firmly grounded in the basic sciences relevant to modern biomedical research and focused on nutrition and nutrition-related questions. Next, trainees are provided with rigorous mentored research training. This research training takes place in the research groups of one of the productive and well funded independent scientists who comprise the training faculty listed in this application. The data and narrative provided within this application demonstrate that we are training individuals committed to careers in research and teaching, with the fundamental knowledge, skills, and experience that are needed for developing successful, independent nutritional sciences research careers in the 21st Century
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