Mechanisms of cell regulation and transformation

Rockefeller University, New York NY

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application proposes to continue a comprehensive training program in cancer biology at The Rockefeller University, an institution with a strong history in this area. Now it its fourth decade, this grant will support 5 predoctoral and 5 postdoctoral trainees. The predoctoral training program of this grant constitutes a specialized unit of the Rockefeller graduate program, requiring thesis research on a project related to cancer biology and course work providing in depth education in the molecular basis of cancer in a course taught by the Program Director, as well as training in general molecular biology, molecular genetics, genetics, cell biology, and organismal biology. The postdoctoral training is centered on mentored experimental research on a cancer-relevant subject, complemented with participation in the graduate course on the molecular basis of cancer and further education through lectures at the Rockefeller and its neighboring institutions. All trainees work together to organize the Annual Rockefeller Cancer Symposium, featuring outside speakers and a poster session at which all trainees present their progress. Program direction, selection of trainees, as well as the monitoring of the progress of trainees is executed by the Program Advisory Committee, composed of the Program Director, the Dean of Graduate Studies, and a Program faculty member. The training faculty are 20 strong investigators, many of whom are leaders in their field. This group of investigators represents expertise in a very broad range of cancer biology, including genome instability, apoptosis, signal transduction, cell cycle control, transcriptional regulation, and tumor immunology, and the program encourages trainees to perform collaborative work with different faculty. The predoctoral and postdoctoral applicant pools are outstanding, containing a large number of students who have superb academic and research accomplishments, and who are primarily interested in cancer biology. The confluence of these attributes defines a specific training program in cancer biology that provides the trainees with the educational background, analytical abilities, and experimental expertise to forge future advances in biology. The research supported by this training grant is directly relevant to public health, spanning a spectrum of basic research on the molecular basis of cancer, as well as clinical research including tumor immunotherapy.