The Predoctoral Genetics Training Program (GTP) is an interdisciplinary program that provides enriched genetics education for students receiving their Ph. D. degrees in six participating departments: Biological Chemistry, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB), Human Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology, Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB) and Pharmacology. Our goal is to train investigators who can apply disciplinary expertise to the new research opportunities of the genomic era. The GTP includes 68 faculty members and 22 current trainees. Twenty seven Ph. D. degrees were completed during the past 5 years. During the current funding period, the curriculum was updated to expand training in computational and quantitative biology and addition of an Individual Development Plan for incoming students. Ongoing research projects range from microbial and viral gene regulation to yeast, plant, fly, worm, mouse and human genetics and genomics. Students are usually supported for their second and third years of graduate study, and participate in training activities that generate significant group interaction. Fourth and fift year students continue to participate in monthly research seminars, the annual retreat, and other training grant events such as meeting with invited speakers. Most of our graduates have gone on to productive research careers in academia, industry, and scientific organizations. Trainees benefit from a University environment that is strongly oriented towards graduate education, with a large and interactive research community that is among the top ten in NIH funding. University-supported core laboratories facilitate trainees' research by providing access to state of the art technology including transgenic models, NextGen sequencing, genotyping, and large scale analysis of gene expression. The GTP curriculum includes formal coursework in genetics, bioinformatics and quantitative biology as well as interactive seminars, with three courses specifically directed towards this group of students. Each year, trainees select three outstanding geneticists from outside the University to lecture on an area of interest, which is also the topic for a semester-long student seminar course. Our annual retreat features an invited keynote speaker and oral and poster presentations by current and former trainees. The GTP, one of the oldest NIH-supported training programs, continues to be a vital component of graduate education and training at the University of Michigan.

Public Health Relevance

Rapid advances in DNA sequencing and other genomic technologies are having a major impact on human health and our understanding of biology from the simplest organisms to human populations. There is a growing need for scientists with interdisciplinary training and sophisticated understanding of genetics to apply these powerful new tools in the most productive directions. The Predoctoral Genetics Training Program provides intensive genetics education to graduate students receiving their primary training in other biomedical fields from pharmacology to microbiology and evolutionary biology. These students will be well prepared to take advantage of new opportunities for improvement of human health and medical therapies through the application of genetics.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Institutional National Research Service Award (T32)
Project #
4T32GM007544-39
Application #
9096838
Study Section
Training and Workforce Development Subcommittee - D (TWD)
Program Officer
Haynes, Susan R
Project Start
1978-07-01
Project End
2018-06-30
Budget Start
2016-07-01
Budget End
2017-06-30
Support Year
39
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Department
Genetics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
073133571
City
Ann Arbor
State
MI
Country
United States
Zip Code
48109
Fitzsimmons, William J; Woods, Robert J; McCrone, John T et al. (2018) A speed-fidelity trade-off determines the mutation rate and virulence of an RNA virus. PLoS Biol 16:e2006459
Pérez Millán, María I; Vishnopolska, Sebastian A; Daly, Alexandre Z et al. (2018) Next generation sequencing panel based on single molecule molecular inversion probes for detecting genetic variants in children with hypopituitarism. Mol Genet Genomic Med :
Burby, Peter E; Simmons, Zackary W; Schroeder, Jeremy W et al. (2018) Discovery of a dual protease mechanism that promotes DNA damage checkpoint recovery. PLoS Genet 14:e1007512
Otero-Jiménez, Beatriz; Vandermeer, John H; Tucker, Priscilla K (2018) Effect of coffee agriculture management on the population structure of a forest dwelling rodent (Heteromys desmarestianus goldmani). Conserv Genet 19:495-499
Moccia, Amanda; Srivastava, Anshika; Skidmore, Jennifer M et al. (2018) Genetic analysis of CHARGE syndrome identifies overlapping molecular biology. Genet Med 20:1022-1029
Cloutier, Marissa; Harris, Clair; Gayen, Srimonta et al. (2018) Experimental Analysis of Imprinted Mouse X-Chromosome Inactivation. Methods Mol Biol 1861:177-203
Larson, Peter A; Moldovan, John B; Jasti, Naveen et al. (2018) Spliced integrated retrotransposed element (SpIRE) formation in the human genome. PLoS Biol 16:e2003067
Hernandez, Margarita R; Davis, Michael B; Jiang, Jianhao et al. (2018) Condensin I protects meiotic cohesin from WAPL-1 mediated removal. PLoS Genet 14:e1007382
Abbott, Jamie A; Meyer-Schuman, Rebecca; Lupo, Vincenzo et al. (2018) Substrate interaction defects in histidyl-tRNA synthetase linked to dominant axonal peripheral neuropathy. Hum Mutat 39:415-432
Li, Yilai; Schroeder, Jeremy W; Simmons, Lyle A et al. (2018) Visualizing bacterial DNA replication and repair with molecular resolution. Curr Opin Microbiol 43:38-45

Showing the most recent 10 out of 357 publications