This new application seeks funding for a multi-disciplinary research training program in Pulmonary Host - Defense, Inflammation and Immunity at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Health for pre-doctoral Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. students engaged in thesis work and for medical students engaged in short-term research training. Presently, the research programs of Case faculty and the training programs for post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty in pulmonary host defense and in immunobiology are strong, and many pre-doctoral graduate and medical students are interested in joining these programs. There is a clear need for enlarging this pulmonary host defense community to include these students who are at earlier stages of their career, both to excite them about pursuing research careers in lung disease and to provide them outstanding training opportunities in inflammation and immunity. The objectives of this research training program are to 1) include these young students in this community, 2) provide outstanding multi- disciplinary research training and a rigorous background in pulmonary physiology in health and disease, 3) facilitate interactions that apply newly emerging information about basic mechanisms of inflammation and immunity to pulmonary disease, 4) develop new effective mentoring programs, and 5) provide an infrastructure. Our goals are to provide outstanding collaborative multidisciplinary research training to prepare our trainees for successful careers in pulmonary host defense and immunobiology, to train research and physician scientists to translate findings freely between the basic and clinical spheres, and to provide excellent mentor- and co-mentorship, which itself is taught to our trainees and evaluated by them. Short- term training for medical students will provide them an opportunity to pursue an area of research in greater depth than is accomplished within the traditional curriculum and increase awareness of opportunities in research through well structured, mentored research experiences that lay the foundation for future involvement in research. The outstanding, highly interactive 36 program faculty are based in 14 departments and have primary interests in four areas: lung immunobiology, tuberculosis, mechanisms of inflammation and innate immunity, or mucosal immunity. Thus, students will have opportunities through co-mentorship to learn about forefront advances in basic mechanisms in inflammation and immunity and to apply these to address important questions in lung biology. Underrepresented minorities are specifically recruited to join this program. Our evaluation system allows us to continuously improve our training program, and our database tracks the careers of these trainees
