This program will prepare scientists for research careers in the computational analysis and mathematical modeling of medically significant biological systems through interdisciplinary training at the predoctoral level. Noted for its well-established system of interdisciplinary graduate programs and for its tradition of collaborations across departmental boundaries, the University of Arizona provides a highly suitable environment for such training. Seventeen training faculty and two associate faculty with appointments in multiple departments and interdisciplinary graduate programs provide strength in three broad areas: molecular dynamics;cellular processes;physiology and pathophysiology. Students will be drawn primarily from the interdisciplinary Program in Applied Mathematics and the cross-disciplinary Biochemistry and Molecular &Cellular Biology Program. Qualified students from other graduate programs will also be eligible. In most cases, students will receive support starting in their second year of graduate training. Trainees will pursue the coursework requirements of their own graduate programs and will, in addition, take graduate courses in bioinformatics, biostatistics and mathematical modeling tailored to their diverse scientific backgrounds. Trainees will take part in a weekly biomathematics colloquium that has been running continuously for more than a decade and promotes dialog between trainees and faculty with primarily mathematical or computational backgrounds and those with strong biological training. Trainees will carry out doctoral research with advisors whose research, whether theoretical or experimental, emphasizes application of theoretical approaches to biomedical problems. Where appropriate, a co-advisor will be appointed to provide complementary expertise to that of the primary advisor. Trainees participating in this program will not only receive research training in relevant areas, but will also develop the ability to communicate and collaborate across traditional disciplinary boundaries and to work with researchers with complementary expertise. Researchers with such skills are critically needed in many areas of biomedical science in which sophisticated theoretical approaches are necessary in order to achieve further progress. Relevance: In many areas of biomedical science, sophisticated theoretical approaches are necessary in order to achieve further progress. This program will prepare scientists for research careers in the computational analysis and mathematical modeling of medically significant biological systems through interdisciplinary training at the predoctoral level.
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