The Predoctoral Genetics Training Program (GTP) is an interdisciplinary program that provides enriched genetics education for students receiving their Ph.D. degrees in six departments: Biological Chemistry, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB), Human Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB), and Pharmacology. Our goal is to train investigators who can apply disciplinary expertise to the new research opportunities of the post-genome-sequence era. The GTP includes 54 faculty members and 33 trainees. During the current funding period, 28 students received the Ph.D. degree, a new director was appointed, and the curriculum has been updated. Ongoing research projects range from microbial and viral gene regulation to yeast, plant, fly, mouse and human genetics, and functional genomics. Most students are supported for their second and third years of graduate study. Most of our graduates have gone on to productive research careers in academia and industry. Trainees benefit from a University environment that is strongly oriented towards graduate education, with a large and interactive research community that is among the top ten in NIH funding. University-supported core laboratory facilitate trainees' research by providing access to state-of-the-art technology including transgenic models, DNA sequencing, and large-scale gene expression. The curriculum includes formal coursework in genetics and interactive seminars. Each year, trainees select and host four outstanding geneticists from outside the University to lecture on an area of interest. The GTP is one of the oldest and largest NIH-supported training programs, and continues to be a vital component of graduate education and biomedical research at the University of Michigan.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 357 publications
