Training Interdisciplinary Pharmacology Scientists (TIPS)

Enter the text here that is the new abstract information for your application. This section must be no longer than 30 lines of text. The mission of the Training Interdisciplinary Pharmacology Scientists (TIPS) program is to train predoctoral students to address critical issues in drug development, by providing them the tools and knowledge to navigate the ever-changing, interdisciplinary landscape that makes up today’s basic, translational, and clinical research, and to do so in a way that enhances the future professional workforce in Pharmacological Sciences. TIPS will provide a much-needed integrated program that incorporates quantitative, systems, and structural approaches in drug discovery including screening, computation, medicinal chemistry, machine learning, and structural biology relevant to target discovery and validation, and an understanding of regulatory issues involved in advancing candidate therapeutics to clinical application. With the participation of 3 premier and neighboring biomedical research institutions and their graduate schools (University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, and Rice University), TIPS will provide interdisciplinary training, career development activities, and industry shadowships that will prepare students to advance biomedical research through successful careers in academia, government and regulatory agencies, and industry. Program leadership includes the program director, co-director, and a steering committee from the participating graduate programs, along with an external advisory committee of wide-ranging experts. TIPS program requirements and benefits will include co-mentoring from two faculty in a collaborative research project; specific didactic and elective courses (available to TIPS trainees at all participating schools); monthly trainee meetings to build a unified cohort; a wide variety of career development activities to build skills, and required training in the responsible conduct of research and rigor and reproducibility. Mentors will include 26 faculty members at 3 institutions, working in 12 graduate programs, who have training and research expertise in drug/compound screening, pharmacology, computation, medicinal chemistry, structural biology, systems biology, biochemistry, genetics, and molecular and cellular biology. All participating departments recruit nationwide, which provides a large pool of exceptionally qualified predoctoral students for our 6 requested slots. Students will apply to TIPS after joining a lab near the end of their first year or during their second year of graduate school, and if selected through a holistic and rigorous application process, will receive two years of support. Reappointment to the second year will be contingent on a thorough oral and written review of trainee research progress and completion of program requirements. TIPS will complement the degree requirements of a trainee’s home institution, causing no delay in degree completion. The interdisciplinary skills emphasized by this program will produce pharmacology scientists well positioned to advance biomedical research and to address the complexity of drug development.