The UTMB Environmental Toxicology T32 Training Grant has been in existence at UTMB since 1990. In the over 20 years of its existence, training has been provided to over 70 predoctoral fellows and 28 postdoctoral fellows, including 9 physician-scientists. The trainees who have completed their training have professional positions in basic research, biotechnology, teaching, risk assessment and/or practical problems of environmental pollutant regulation and policy. Twelve have academic faculty appointments; three who subsequently obtained law degrees are practicing environmental or patent law. A tangible outcome of our policy about trainee submission of competitive research proposals is that 35 have obtained individual fellowships, including 18 from NIEHS. Accordingly, we request support for 6 predoctoral fellows and 3 postdoctoral fellows per year, to continue this outstanding training program. Key elements in our unique climate for training are a multiplicity of environmental-health relevant research centers and institutes, notably: 1) the NIEHS Center in Environmental Toxicology (over 20 yr.), 2) the Institute for Translational Science (ITS) and recently renewed (2015) NIH Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA), 3) the Sealy Center for Environmental Health and Medicine, 4) the recently renewed (2015) NIH Pepper Center on Aging, and 5) the respective Sealy Centers for Molecular Science, Cancer Cell Biology, and Aging. We offer training in 4 areas where we have critical masses of experienced faculty, exemplary institutional support, and superb resources for state-of-the-art environmental and translational research. These areas are: 1) airway inflammation/ obstruction pathogenesis, 2) intracellular regulation and signaling, 3) DNA damage and repair, and 4) organ pathophysiology, all with a unifying theme of oxidant injury. Training in airway inflammation/obstruction pathogenesis is supported by 8 well-established trainers in 5 federally-funded asthma research programs; training in intracellular regulation and signaling is a newer area, taking advantage of strengths within the ITS; training in DNA damage and repair continues to grow and develop as previously, and training in organ pathophysiology emphasizes our continued strong sub-areas of CNS toxicology, aging, and infection, providing opportunities for toxicology training in translational sciences. Our didactic curriculum builds from an interdisciplinary common first year, toward advanced courses in molecular toxicology, pathology, proteomics/bioinformatics, and short courses on specialized topics. Identity and community within our training program is established with structured activities such as toxicology courses and seminars, journal club, and local, regional, and national toxicology meeting attendance. Professional development in teaching, communication, mentoring, and academic responsibility is fostered by required participation in a new Principles of Toxicology Course, in which the trainees experience teaching of basic toxicology principles, modeled by our training faculty, and through trainee activities like flipped classroom and toxicant-specific presentations, as well as our BENCH high school mentoring program, and our Near-Peer Mentoring Initiative.
The public health relevance of this NIEHS Environmental Toxicology Training Program is a function of how the trainees are taught, and what they do in their subsequent careers. We endeavor to teach them solid, evidence- based principles that can be tested by hypotheses, and direct the trainees toward seeking new knowledge that can benefit the public in the maintenance of public health. Our trainees also receive intensive training in risk assessment and statistics to fortify their science training, and them to understand the toxicological risks in the world around them. A number of our trainees have gone on to become involved with public policy-making, as well as consultative positions, in which they are responsible for making decisions that can ultimately affect public health. Many go on to become academic scientists, continuing their search for knowledge, funded by federal grants, which also require publication and public availability of their discovered information. Others become toxicologists working for companies that are conscientious in their product-making, for environmental concerns that can affect public health. In all, we believe that our Environmental Toxicology Training Program has an important core of concern and relevance for all public health, due to its emphasis on environmentally- based studies that can benefit the public in their everyday lives.
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