The Integrative Immunology Training Program (IITP) at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern) will provide comprehensive training to pre-doctoral students, medical scientist trainees, and post-doctoral fellows, preparing them for careers in immunology-related research fields. The goal of our 35 year old training program is to train top-quality scientists to investigate and resolve significant immune-related problems. Our advanced immunology training will provide trainees with the essential skills necessary to respond to global health issues such as emerging infectious diseases, an aging population suffering the ills of autoimmune diseases, and health care crises involving metabolic disorders (diabetes), cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, which are dramatically affected by the immune response. The training will include cutting edge research, intellectually challenging didactic immunology courses, works-in-progress seminars, a research proposal writing class, multiple lecture series, and journal clubs. We have an excellent program- specific plan to recruit and retain a geographically broad range of pre- and post- doctoral applicants as well as underrepresented minority trainees. Included in our training program is course work on the responsible conduct of research, ethics classes, statistics workshops, and enhanced scientific/research dialog. In addition, we provide our trainees with exposure to clinical settings using case presentations with attending physicians at nationally ranked Medical Centers. The UT Southwestern Immunology/Infectious Diseases Graduate Program is ranked 9th in the nation, and our current training mechanisms will enable us to continue as a leader in training highly qualified individuals. UT Southwestern Medical Center is committed to this training mechanism, supporting the administrative personnel and core facilities on campus that are necessary to achieve our goals.
This T32 renewal application provides a comprehensive description of the recruitment, training and retention program for immunology trainees engaged in cutting edge immunology research. A very strong research component, in conjunction with challenging courses, excellent lecture series, and a unique training environment with innovative approaches and evaluation strategies distinguishes it from other training programs. Our goals are to train top-quality scientists capable of conducting independent immunology research and to promote the development of essential intellectual, technical, and communication skills that are needed for success in the academic and/or industrial arenas of today and tomorrow.
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