The MARGE Career Development and Training Program is divided into two parts. The overridingobjective of the first part, the Individual Career Development Support Program, is to bring a cadre ofbright, motivated, young scientists into the broad area of biodefense and emerging infectious diseasesresearch. Two Career Development Awards be offered in the amount of $150,000 per year for two years ofsupervised study and research for professionals who have the potential to develop into productive scientificinvestigators. This Program will enhance and support the MARCE Strategic Plan in several ways. First, theaddition of new investigators will complement the existing interactions between established MARCEinvestigators and inject fresh ideas into the field. Second, the addition of the recipients' projects will furtherexpand the research portfolio. Third, Career Development projects will enhance synergies with the existingResearch Programs through ties to the sub-themes of those Programs. For the second part of this Program,the MARCE will offer the following Group Career Development Activities based on a needs assessmentand the success of these training courses in the first funding period: 1) BSL-3 Laboratory BiosafetyTraining. This three-day course offered at the U. of Maryland will feature lectures, group learning activities,demonstrations, and hands-on training for BSL-3 experiments and aerobiology; 2) Media Training for BioScientists in Preparation for Public Health Emergencies. This one day-course offered by the GeorgeWashington U. will prepare scientists to become effective subject matter communicators during public healthemergencies; 3) Training in Good Manufacturing Practices, Good Laboratory Practices and ProcessDevelopment. This two-day course at the Sanofi Pasteur Vaccines manufacturing facilities will cover GMP,GLP, process development, regulatory issues and manufacture; and 4) Training in the Complexity ofResponse to Biological Emergencies. The U. of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security willhost an interactive two-day workshop where national and international experts discuss how they will preparefor and respond to a bioterrorist attack or emerging infectious disease outbreak. In addition, a ClinicalIssues Training Committee, staffed by infectious disease experts at the major MARCE institutions, will beprepared to rapidly offer instruction on emerging infections or biodefense issues in the face of an event.Together, the Career and Training Programs will increase the overall pool of trained investigators andqualified researchers in this field.
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