Unliquidated Obligations: Training Grant in Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity

The objectives of the Molecular Mechanisms of Toxicity Training Program are to provide trainees with a fundamental education in the mechanisms by which environmental exposures induce human disease, and/or the basic cellular processes upon which environmental agents impact and cause disease. The training program is based on an understanding of biochemistry, physiology, molecular/cell biology and pharmacology, didactic training in mechanisms by which environmental agents induce toxicity, together with the cellular/molecular processes by which the body defends itself against environmental insult, and is coupled with in-depth laboratory research training. The goal is to prepare and inspire the next generation of scientists to address the ever-present environmental challenges to human health by the prevention of disease, either by nutritional intervention, where possible, or by otherwise exploiting human defense systems. The Training Program is based in the Graduate Center for Toxicology (GCT), a basic science department in the College of Medicine that grants the Ph.D. in Toxicology and provides an administrative and teaching nucleus of 18 Core Faculty. Joint Faculty from the Colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy, Agriculture, and Arts & Sciences enrich the diversity of training opportunities; 27 of these Core and Joint Faculty with strong research programs make up the Training Grant Faculty. This application requests support for 6 predoctoral trainees, and is focused on three disease areas that have an environmental basis: Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease and Neurodegenerative Disease. Oxidative stress, DNA damage and repair and metabolomics are three mechanistic themes that underlie many of the research programs and provide opportunities for collaborations and multidisciplinary approaches to problems, thereby providing a rich research training environment. The Predoctoral training program requires a Biomedical Base (25 credits), a Toxicology Base (13 credits; including Ethics in Scientific Research) and an Elective identified by the student’s Advisory Committee (3-4 credits). Predoctoral trainees will be supported for a maximum of three years, e.g., years 2 – 4 of doctoral training; Current enrollment in the Toxicology PhD program is 23, including 2 minority students. These and recent minority graduates were primarily recruited from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) and supported by a T35 or R25 NIEHS programs that support summer research experiences in Toxicology. The University continues to provide strong support for the GCT in the form of student fellowships, supplementation to this Training Grant, and new faculty lines, space and equipment so that the program has grown vigorously over the last five years, and is anticipated to continue to do so.