An inter-institutional and interdisciplinary faculty group from Rutgers University and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) proposes to develop an interdisciplinary research workforce training program in Proteomics Technologies. The training program will capitalize on the infrastructure of nationally prominent multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research programs on campus including: the BioMaPS Institute for Quantitative Biology, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ), the Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium (NESG) of the NIH Protein Strucure Initiative, and the Protein Data Bank (PDB). The training program will educate the next generation of scientists in the concepts and technologies needed for the characterization of the structures and functions of proteins implicated in human disease. This project builds on existing strengths and well-funded programs in structural biology, structural and functional genomics, cell biology, computational biology, as well as model organism biology, developmental biology and cancer research. The structural biology community has established international prominence at Rutgers/RWJMS through applications of X-ray crystallography and NMR to problems of great biological and medical significance and also through its management of the Protein Data Bank (PDB), a worldwide central resource for biology. Rutgers/RWJMS is the coordinating hub of the Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium (NESG), a project of the NIH Protein Structure Initiative, whose goal is to produce and purify hundreds of proteins from the human genome and the genomes of model eukaryotes and to determine experimental 3D structures for some 200 - 300 of these proteins. The community of researchers at Rutgers/RWJMS developing and using eukaryotic organism model systems is internationally recognized. Other significant strengths include research focused on bacterial and eukaryotic transcriptional regulation. At Rutgers/RWJMS there is also a strong tradition in computational biology with researchers delving into protein folding, protein and DNA drug interactions; and bioinformatic and engineering approaches to cellular networks and signaling. The training program will emphasize team approaches to Proteome-based research projects of high relevance to the nation's health, including projects focused on cancer and infectious diseases. The training program will also include the design of new courses in Proteomics, a seminar series, and an annnual retreat which will bring together all students and faculty participating in the program.
