CSU Infectious Disease Research and Response Training Program

Infectious Disease Research and Response Training Program (IDRRTP) The Infectious Disease Research and Response Network (IDRRN) was established in 2016 and has been recognized as a Program of Research and Scholarly Excellence (PRSE) at Colorado State University. The IDRRN promotes the development of interdisciplinary teams to investigate, study, and develop mitigation strategies for diseases locally, nationally and internationally. The IDRRN uses team dynamics to focus on infectious and neurodegenerative diseases and maximize the impact of its expertise in disease transmission and pathogenesis, development of diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics, vector biology, epidemiology, and bioengineering. The IDRRN has a strong commitment and a proven track record in training the next generation of research scientists who will continue to face pandemics while also confronting novel emerging infectious agents. In addition to the rich scientific environment, there are vast, state-of-the-art facilities featuring BLS2, BSL3, ABSL3 and GMP capabilities. The parent grant provides trainees with personalized coursework in microbiology, immunology, pathology, statistics and bioinformatics to build foundational knowledge, critical thinking skills, and mastery of literature interrogation. With this competitive revision, we propose a comprehensive approach to transition from what is currently self-directed data science training that often occurs after data generation to an intentional, structured approach that prepares trainees prior to data generation. Trainees will be co-mentored by faculty from both infectious disease and data science disciplines. Projects are expected to bridge the research of the co-mentors and bring together students from each discipline to create peer to peer collaborative interactions. Faculty from the Data Science Research Institute, a recently formed, university-wide initiative, have been added as training faculty. These data science experts represent four colleges and have a track record of engaging in interdisciplinary research. A Graduate Certificate in Applied Data Science consisting of structured courses (10 credits) has been created to specifically address the needs of infectious disease pre- doctoral students and will provide recognition of their achievements. Required data management and sharing workshops along with interactive data science seminars on a variety of topics will meet students where they are to improve their comfort and competence in computational approaches while preparing them for the certificate program. The data science training positions provided through the competitive revision will serve as a catalyst to increase engagement of infectious disease trainees in data science, enhance recruitment to the new certificate program, and serve as a segue for a competitive renewal of the parent grant that will have data science as an ongoing emphasis.