This is a resubmission of a competing continuation of a Kirschstein Institutional NRSA on """"""""Inflammation and Nutritional Dysfunction"""""""", which was established in 2002. The program is administered by the interdisciplinary Nutritional Sciences program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and integrates recognized areas of excellence at UIUC, Nutritional Sciences, Integrative Immunology and Behavior and Gastrointestinal Innate and Adaptive Immunity. While the interdependency between nutrition and immunology long has been appreciated, the complex interaction between the neural, endocrine and immune systems and how they are modulated by environmental factors only recently have begun to be elucidated. Inflammatory mechanisms are central to the pathophysiology of many chronic diseases for which diet is used for prevention or treatment. Thus, it is essential that mechanisms underlying the complex interactions between nutritional status and inflammation be elucidated. The """"""""Inflammation and Nutritional Dysfunction"""""""" training program provides comprehensive education at the interface of nutritional sciences and cellular and molecular immunology, with the objective of preparing predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows to become productive, independent scientists capable of furthering the need of NIH to understand the complex interactions between the nutritional status, the innate and adaptive immune systems, and health and disease. In just 4 years, a robust training program has been established, exemplified by an exceptionally strong biomedical research base, success in recruiting underrepresented minorities and students pursuing combined Ph.D./M.D. degrees, and the establishment of the Integrative Immunology and Behavior program at UIUC. Dr. Robert Dantzer, an internationally-recognized leader in the area of psychoneuroimmunology, has been recruited to direct the Integrative Immunology and Behavior program and has been added as a preceptor. Eight preceptors with active research programs focused on nutrition and inflammation provide the core for the training program. Four predoctoral and two postdoctoral fellowships are requested. Candidates with exceptional academic credentials and research experience will be recruited and underrepresented minorities and M.D./Ph.D. candidates will continue to be specifically targeted for enrollment. Research training will be complemented by coursework in nutrition, immunology, endocrinology, neuroscience, biochemistry and molecular biology, a weekly seminar series and presentations at scientific conferences. The strong research programs of the preceptors, the excellent reputation of the Nutritional Sciences program and outstanding intellectual environment at the University of Illinois combine to form an ideal climate in which to train future leaders in this unique interdisciplinary field.
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