During the 20 years since the discovery of HIV as the causative agent of AIDS, important research advances have contributed significantly to an understanding of the mechanisms by which immunodeficiency viruses replicate and induce disease. Nevertheless, fundamental questions remain unanswered, and the inability of current therapies to eliminate the virus from the host indicates that a continuing need for novel therapies is expected. Thus, it is anticipated that the need for young, well-trained researchers in this field will also continue. In this application, we propose to draw on the recent growth and research strength of the HIV/AIDS research faculty and the high quality of graduate students at Vanderbilt University to establish a highly focused doctoral training program in HIV/AIDS research leading to the Ph.D. degree. The program will include 9 faculty preceptors in four basic science departments engaged in HIV research, including Microbiology and Immunology, Pharmacology, Cancer Biology, and Pathology. Research foci of the preceptors include: HIV entry and virus-host cell interactions (Aiken); mechanisms of KSHV cell transformation (Browning); HIV drug resistance (D'Aquila); immune responses to HIV (Kalams); regulation of cellular uptake of HIV antiviral drugs (Kim); HIV assembly and vaccines (Spearman); design of novel peptide-based antivirals (Tam); and HIV-immune cell interactions (Unutmaz). Students will enter the program following completion of one year in the Vanderbilt University Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in the Biomedical Sciences training program (IGP). Minority IGP applicants will be given high priority, and specific efforts will be made to recruit minority students through outreach to predominantly minority undergraduate institutions in the southeast United States. Students will select a faculty mentor following laboratory rotations in the first year of the IGP, and will be expected to complete all of the academic requirements of the respective departmental program. In addition, students will take a new course entitled """"""""Current Topics in HIV/AIDS Research"""""""" to be taught by program faculty. Students will also give annual presentations in the Research in Progress seminar series in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and attend a weekly journal club in their respective discipline. Following completion of these requirements and successful defense of the dissertation, a student will be granted the Ph.D. degree by the respective home department. ? ?
