This application seeks continued support for a highly productive pre-doctoral training program in Basic and Cancer Immunology at the University of Washington. Administrative responsibility for this training grant will be based in the Department of Immunology. A cohesive and interactive group of training faculty, whose research addresses a broad range of areas in basic and cancer- related immunology, serve as faculty mentors. Trainees will be selected from an outstanding group of graduate students, including those recruited through the Departments and Programs in Immunology, Microbiology, and Molecular and Cellular Biology. The Training Grant Supervisory Committee, composed of the program director, two associate directors and three other members of the training faculty, evaluates applications, selects students for support, and reviews trainee progress. Ongoing, program-specific efforts seek to enhance further the recruitment of students from under-represented minorities. The training program will include an integrated curriculum of formal course work that builds in complexity, providing first a general foundation in biology and basic immunology, including courses in molecular and cellular biology, advanced immunology, and current issues in immunology, and then an in-depth consideration of cancer and cancer-related conditions in an immunological context. The formal course work will be supplemented by research- in-progress and visiting speaker seminars, biannual external review by outstanding visiting scientists, and, most importantly, by the performance of original research in the laboratories of our faculty. Student research projects address unanswered questions relevant to fundamental immunological processes and the translation of immunological principles into improved management of cancer and cancer-related conditions. Students present their work at national and international meetings, and when the work is mature publish their work in high quality journals. Through this training program, students will fulfill University requirements for receipt of the Ph.D. degree in their home graduate program. The goal of this training program is the selection and rigorous training of an outstanding group of young scientists, who will contribute disproportionately to the conduct of important research in cancer-related immunology.
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