The University of Alabama at Birmingham proposes to conduct a combined pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training grant that focuses on agents of biodefense interest, including key organisms of emerging and international interest. The strengths of our institution in microbiology, infectious disease epidemiology, clinical research, and translational work towards product development have generated considerable research in this arena. Thus, we believe the timing is perfect for a major training grant to stimulate new expertise needed for the mountain of work that faces us in the post 9/11, post-anthrax era. The PI, Executive Committee, and core mentors are all highly qualified in both training and relevant research; we are experienced mentors, linking trainees to funded and fundable research. Our plans include special recruitment efforts for minority trainees, particularly African-Americans. With analogous training grants, we offer well vetted courses or modules in research ethics, grant-writing, manuscript preparation, and IRB issues.
Our specific aims are to:1. Provide pre-doctoral training leading to a research degree in epidemiology, environmental health engineering, environmental health sciences, or international health, facilitating research careers in the conduct of translational research. 2. Enable post-doctoral trainees to initiate independent research careers in international health/biodefense through cross-discipline training in research methods, public health, biodefense/emerging infectious diseases, and biotechnology and vaccine development. The research and training foci are (1) clinical and molecular epidemiology; (2) applied microbiology; and/or (3) operations research into biodefense/infectious disease rapid response, prevention, and control. We have chosen these themes after a comprehensive review of NRSA training grants supported currently by the NIAID, noting that they are very basic-science oriented with very few in support of the translational research that is so explicitly highlighted as highest priority by current Public Health Service leadership. Our trainees will be recruited with these applied goals in mind and their research will be focused in this translational research area.
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