This is the first renewal application for the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center Molecular Biology training grant. The goal of the Molecular Biology Program is to train outstanding research scientists and academicians who will become future leaders in their chosen fields and disciplines. To accomplish this goal we carefully select high quality students with strong academic records and a demonstrated aptitude, commitment and passion for research. The training program is flexible and highly student orientated to meet individual needs, but at the same time has a rigorous curriculum, sets high standards and is very well organized. Molecular Biology is designed as a five+ year program with the first year devoted to challenging course work and laboratory rotations, the second year to the development of a research hypothesis, and the remaining years to completion of the thesis research project under the guidance of a training faculty mentor. To further develop research skills, students at all stages of the curriculum participate in several other program specific activities including a weekly seminar series, journal club and annual mini-courses and retreat. To enhance the potential of our students, the curriculum strongly emphasizes the development of critical and creative independent thinking, scientific communication skills, and professional/responsible conduct. A significant strength of the program is its outstanding and interactive faculty who are highly committed to graduate education and to the Molecular Biology Program. The training faculty is from 11 different departments at UCHSC and is an even richer and more multi-disciplinary group than five years ago, due to an infusion of new faculty. These exceptional new faculty members bring training opportunities in areas such as cell biology, developmental biology, microbiology and structural biology by the approaches of NMR and X-ray crystallography that were either underrepresented or not available before. Over the past five years, the Molecular Biology Program and the UCHSC graduate school have implemented new coordinated recruitment programs that successfully increased the quality, number and diversity of the applicant pools and students admitted. The Molecular Biology Program has grown since 1997 from 24 to 38 students and from 33 to 43 faculty. Of the 38 current students, 14 are male (37%), 24 are female (63%) and 6 (16%) are from underrepresented minorities. Molecular Biology has generated a record of success in training students. Since 1987, 32 students have graduated, 25 (78%) took academic postdoctoral positions in prestigious institutions, only two have left scientific research, and 15 of our graduates have permanent research positions including 11 in industry and 4 in faculty positions. Because of the new recruitment programs at UCHSC and our demonstrated growth and successes since the initial grant submission, we are requesting an increase in student positions to be supported by this training grant from 4 to 6/year for the first three years, and from 6 to 8 students each for years 4 and 5. This increase will enable us to continue to grow and to reach our full potential as a training program. ? ? ?
Showing the most recent 10 out of 76 publications
