This proposal requests funds for a Chemistry/Biology Interface Training Program at Vanderbilt University. Sixteen faculty preceptors from six departments in the College of Arts and Science and in the School of Medicine will serve as mentors for the Program. Significant biological training will be provided to students receiving in-depth training in synthetic and mechanistic chemistry and significant training in synthetic and mechanistic chemistry will be given to students being trained in-depth in the biological sciences. Students will be well-grounded in a core discipline and sufficiently well-trained in complementary fields to allow them to work effectively in a multi-disciplinary team. Support for five Trainees is proposed in the first year with ten Trainees requested in subsequent years at the steady-state level. Vanderbilt University has provided financial support for a pilot training program during the past year in which two Trainees were recruited to the Program and a Seminar Series in Science at the Chemistry-Biology Interface was offered. Trainees will obtain Ph.D. degrees working with Preceptors in the Departments of Biochemistry (5 preceptors) Biological Science (2 preceptors), Chemistry (6 preceptors), Molecular Physiology and Biophysics (1 preceptor), Immunology (1 preceptor), and Pharmacology (1 preceptor). All trainees will complete a core curriculum consisting of courses in Bio-organic Chemistry and Enzyme Mechanisms and Function. Trainees will also participate in a seminar series in Chemical Biology that will serve as a focal point for the program. Student Trainees and Preceptors will present research at these seminars in order to provide an interdisciplinary environment and cross-fertilization of ideas.
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