The consequences of human exposure to environmental and occupational toxicants are a global issue. Over time, the field of toxicology has come to recognize the relationship between chronic low dose exposure, and the development of disease. With the emergence of molecular and cellular biology, recombinant DNA technology, bioinformatics, and molecular genetics, biomedical science has become more complex and interdisciplinary. Unique opportunities exist to relate environmentally caused disorders to genetic, biochemical and molecular mechanisms. Therefore, it is important to train current and future scientists in the technologies of today's science, and give them the scientific foundation that will enable them to use the technologies to address environmental health issues. The Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (IEHS) is a free-standing unit within the organizational structure of Wayne State University with a focus on molecular, cellular, and genomic approaches to the study of toxicant effects. As the headquarters of a NIEHS P30-supported Environmental Health Science (EHS) Center, the IEHS functions as a focal point for stimulating, developing and coordinating instruction in toxicology, and studying the relationship between environmental factors and human disease. The IEHS is also the headquarters of an interdisciplinary pre-doctoral program in Molecular and Cellular Toxicology. The 11 faculty associated with this training program are drawn from the IEHS and the EHS Center. This T32 grant will focus on the training of 2-predoctoral students in the Molecular and Cellular Toxicology Program. The training of students selected from this interdisciplinary graduate program will be augmented by a 2-3 year appointment to the NIEHS-sponsored training grant. These students will receive intensive instruction such that they: 1) are versed in the principals of toxicology but recognize the cross disciplinary nature of the field; 2) gain expertise with many of the contemporary techniques and technologies used in the life sciences; and 3) recognize and appreciate the complex relationships between environment, genetics/genomics, susceptibility to toxicants, and the development and progression of human disease. The overall goal of the predoctoral program in Molecular and Cellular Toxicology is to develop independent scientists who are well prepared for environmental health research, and equipped to perform competitive research using contemporary concepts, approaches and the technologies of molecular biology, cell biology, genomics and genetics. It is envisioned that students with such training will be better equipped to pursue postdoctoral research at major research laboratories throughout the United States.
