The Infectious Disease Pathogenesis Research Training Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will support the training of four postdoctoral fellows per year. This has been a highly successful program, now for 40 years, developing the scientific expertise necessary to reveal new knowledge in the pathogenesis and control of infectious diseases, and the professional skills needed to make biomedical advances in a group of highly selected trainees. Historically, the Program has trained a roughly equal number of MD or MD-PhD, and PhD investigators, as we have felt it the particular strength of this Program to develop translational investigators. The Program has benefitted from the skills of training mentors from the Schools of Medicine and Public Health, and the uniquely collegial and nurturing environment of UNC. Some trainees will choose to receive formal training in methods of public health. All trainees will participate in the Responsible Conduct of Research course. In this application we report on the training of 37 postdoctoral fellows (25 PhDs, 8 MDs, 4 MD/PhDs) in the past 15 years, including 14 women and four underrepresented minority scientist. Most trainees have made excellent progress since leaving the Program, and have received extramural federal funding to support their research. In this renewal we have included selected new faculty, representing the growth and evolution of the infectious disease community at UNC, and exciting new areas of research. We offer a broad range of research opportunities, including emerging pathogens, and extensive resources to facilitate translational studies. Trainees will also benefit from greatly expanded research space and opportunity on campus, as UNC continues to grow and recruit world-class scientist. In summary, we believe the mentors, the trainees and the environment are well suited to support the goals of the application, and ongoing critical research issues in the pathogenesis and epidemiology of infectious diseases.
The Infectious Disease Pathogenesis Research Training Program seeks to train postdoctoral trainees to conduct outstanding research in the fields of bacterial pathogenesis, immunology, virology and epidemiology of infectious disease pathogenesis, to foster the development of skills necessary to conduct productive interdisciplinary research, and to facilitate professional growth and development to ensure academic and research success.
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