This Genetics and Regulation Training Grant (GRTG), in its 40th year, is the primary source of support for graduate students in all areas of Genetics in the Biological Sciences Division (BSD) at the University of Chicago. Our research infrastructure and institutional anatomy are ideally suited to support this multi-layered interdisciplinary program, since the BSD encompasses the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division, the Pritzker School of Medicine, the basic science and clinical departments, interdisciplinary committees and associated graduate programs, and the research institutes and centers. The 52 faculty participating in the Program include members of 11 departments in the BSD and 3 Departments in the Physical Sciences Division, selected by their outstanding research, training record and research support. The trainers' specific strengths are focused in the areas of: chromosome organization and behavior, gene expression and developmental genetics, genetics of model organisms, population and evolutionary genetics, systems biology, and the genetics of human diseases with special emphasis on genetic alterations in cancer, diabetes, cardiac disorders, asthma, and mental health. Diverse systems of study include viruses, bacteria, Arabidopsis, yeast, ciliates, Drosophila, nematodes, zebrafish, mice, humans, and a variety of other plant and animal species. Trainers in this program are highly interactive, and their research is characterized by an interdisciplinary set of experimental and computational approaches. Students are nominated to the GRTG Program on the basis of the stated research interests and interviews by GRTG faculty trainers. Trainees (18), supported by the GRTG for the first 2.5 years, fulfill course requirements (transmission, molecular, population and evolutionary genetics/genomics) of the GRTG as well as those specified by their respective programs. Trainees are mentored and monitored by the GRTG Program Directors and Steering Committee members (7, representing the graduate programs involved) as well as the trainees' PhD committees until graduation. Trainees' experience is enriched by 1- attendance at the annual Genetics Symposium and seminars (Trainees invite 2-3 speakers/year), where they interact with the speakers, 2- weekly Journal (co-presenting with a Faculty trainer) and Data (to present their research and receive feedback) Clubs, 3- training in responsible conduct of research at the junior and senior level, 4- didactic teaching, 5- counseling in career development through the UChicago MyChoice (NIH BEST) program. The long-term objectives of this program are to educate well-trained scholars to 1) perform basic and applied biomedical research, 2) provide future educators in this discipline, and 3) fulfill health-related positions, in academia, industry public policy, education, and law requiring a sophisticated understanding of genetics and genomics.

Public Health Relevance

The aim of this program is to educate well-trained scholars with an advanced appreciation of genetic rationales and methods to 1) perform basic and applied biomedical research, 2) provide future educators in this discipline, and 3) fulfill health- related positions, in academia, industr, public policy, education, and law requiring a sophisticated understanding of genetics and genomics.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Institutional National Research Service Award (T32)
Project #
2T32GM007197-42
Application #
8999569
Study Section
Training and Workforce Development Subcommittee - D (TWD)
Program Officer
Haynes, Susan R
Project Start
1975-07-01
Project End
2021-06-30
Budget Start
2016-07-01
Budget End
2017-06-30
Support Year
42
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Chicago
Department
Genetics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
005421136
City
Chicago
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
60637
Steimle, Jeffrey D; Rankin, Scott A; Slagle, Christopher E et al. (2018) Evolutionarily conserved Tbx5-Wnt2/2b pathway orchestrates cardiopulmonary development. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 115:E10615-E10624
Blake, Lauren E; Thomas, Samantha M; Blischak, John D et al. (2018) A comparative study of endoderm differentiation in humans and chimpanzees. Genome Biol 19:162
Hernandez, Sonia L; Nelson, Mildred; Sampedro, Georgia R et al. (2018) Staphylococcus aureus alpha toxin activates Notch in vascular cells. Angiogenesis :
Chiang, Charleston W K; Marcus, Joseph H; Sidore, Carlo et al. (2018) Genomic history of the Sardinian population. Nat Genet 50:1426-1434
Mika, Katelyn M; Li, Xilong; DeMayo, Francesco J et al. (2018) An Ancient Fecundability-Associated Polymorphism Creates a GATA2 Binding Site in a Distal Enhancer of HLA-F. Am J Hum Genet 103:509-521
VanKuren, Nicholas W; Long, Manyuan (2018) Gene duplicates resolving sexual conflict rapidly evolved essential gametogenesis functions. Nat Ecol Evol 2:705-712
Banovich, Nicholas E; Li, Yang I; Raj, Anil et al. (2018) Impact of regulatory variation across human iPSCs and differentiated cells. Genome Res 28:122-131
de Barros Damgaard, Peter; Martiniano, Rui; Kamm, Jack et al. (2018) The first horse herders and the impact of early Bronze Age steppe expansions into Asia. Science 360:
Stein, Michelle M; Thompson, Emma E; Schoettler, Nathan et al. (2018) A decade of research on the 17q12-21 asthma locus: Piecing together the puzzle. J Allergy Clin Immunol 142:749-764.e3
Chakraborty, Mahul; VanKuren, Nicholas W; Zhao, Roy et al. (2018) Hidden genetic variation shapes the structure of functional elements in Drosophila. Nat Genet 50:20-25

Showing the most recent 10 out of 178 publications