Chemistry-Biology Interface Predoctoral Training Program

Project Summary This proposal requests funds to support predoctoral trainees as part of the Chemical Biology Interface Training Program (CBITP) at New York University (NYU). Our program will catalyze interdisciplinary education at the interface of chemistry and biology with a focus on two biomedical themes: Chemical Cancer Biology and Chemical Microbiology. This training program will have participation from four basic science departments at NYU: Department of Biology, Department of Chemistry, Center for Neural Science, and NYU Pain Center. All programs are under the umbrella of NYU Graduate School of Arts & Science, enabling low barriers to joint students and shared facilities. Participating faculty mentors have research interests in infectious disease, neuroscience, and cancer chemical biology, with specific expertise spanning developmental biology, genomics and proteomics, cell-signaling, organic chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry, enzymology, computation, bioinformatics, neuroscience, and structural biology. Trainees are educated in the principles and techniques of both chemistry and biology and take an interdisciplinary set of core courses to facilitate this knowledge. The unique aspects of this program are that the program stresses joint mentors from different scientific disciplines to encourage trainees to become proficient in chemical approaches applied to biological complexity as well as approaches to science from different perspectives. The course work emphasizes rigor and reproducibility in scientific research and scientific communication. All students will convert their key experimental methods into a scientific video similar to those in the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JOVE) to be presented at the monthly seminars or annual retreat. All trainees and mentors participate in the monthly Seminars in Chemical Biology series as part of the NYU Chemical Biology Consortium, and the annual symposium and poster session. Trainees will participate in their home graduate program research colloquia and student clubs in order to broaden their knowledge and networking opportunities beyond the training program. In Years 4 or 5 of graduate school, trainees will have an opportunity to pursue an internship at a pharmaceutical company or entrepreneurial office to gain perspectives on careers outside academia. The number of mentors participating in the CBI Training Program is 24 and four funded positions are requested in each year.