The Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology (JGPT) is a combined effort of Rutgers University and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School-University and is centered in the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI). The principal underpinning of the JGPT is the toxicology training grant. This is a competing renewal request for years 21-25 to support 6 pre-doctoral students and 3 postdoctoral fellows. Since its inception, the JGPT has trained more than 100 doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and physician-scientists. The graduates of the JGPT have forged distinguished careers in academic, industrial and governmental toxicology research. The central goal of the program is to provide rigorous training in mechanistic toxicology and related biomedical disciplines, reinforced with focused training in a field of specialization. These specialized tracks: biochemical toxicology, cell signaling and immunotoxicology and neurotoxicology, reflect areas of scholarship in which the JGPT faculty are recognized as leaders. The training is supported by outstanding resources for state-of-the-art research and strong institutional support, and synergizes with the NIEHS Center for Excellence in Toxicology, the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and other units involved in environmental health research. The enthusiastic participation of faculty from the two universities creates an unusually rich training environment for pre-doctoral and postdoctoral fellows. A new initiative in this proposal is to designate one senior postdoctoral fellow position for a clinical resident in the Occupational Medicine Residency in EOHSI to facilitate translational toxicology research with human subjects. In addition, all incoming trainees will rotate through the clinical facilities at EOHSI to gain experience in human subjects research. The continuing goal of the JGPT and this training grant is to prepare trainees to excel in the rapidly changing arena of environmental health sciences. BACKGROUND This is a competitive renewal for the Training in Environmental Toxicology program at Rutgers University that has been funded for the past 21 years. Dr. Robert Snyder served as Director until 1997 and Dr. Kenneth Reuhl assumed the leadership in 1997 and has led the Program ever since. The training program operates within the Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology (JGPT) that is a combined effort between Rutgers University and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Relative to the previous funding period the number of pre-doctoral positions has been reduced by 1 and the number of postdoctoral positions increased by 1 for a total of 6 pre-doctoral and 3 postdoctoral positions. The new postdoctoral position will be used to support a clinical resident in the Occupational Medicine Residency program at the Environmental and Occupational Health Science Institute (EOHSI). Another proposed change to the program is the introduction of a mandatory one-month rotation of pre-doctoral trainees in the Occupational Medicine Clinic or Controlled Exposure Clinic to provide experience in human subject based research.
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