University of Illinois at Chicago
Signal Transduction Training Program
History of the Signal Transduction Training Program
Over the past 10 years, a substantial number of young
faculty with research interests in the area of signal transduction were
recruited to the University of Illinois College of Medicine in both
the basic science and clinical departments. This complemented our existing
strengths of the faculty in signaling and cellular endocrinology, and
provided a unique opportunity for the development of a strong interactive
training environment for molecular and cellular biology in general,
and for research in the broad area of mechanisms and regulation of signal
transduction, in particular. Recognition that interdepartmental interactions
are absolutely essential for a strong training environment led twelve
years ago to the development and ultimate funding of this program by
the NIH/NIDDK in 1997, which now brings together 34 faculty members
from the basic science departments, clinical sections in the Department
of Medicine, and Department of Urology (Andrology Laboratory). The STTP
now acts as an organizational umbrella under which these faculty trainers
and their predoctoral trainees and postdoctoral fellows can come together
to interact academically, scientifically and collaboratively to significantly
enhance and focus their training experiences in cellular, molecular,
genetic and biomedical aspects of signal transduction mechanisms and
regulation in health and disease.
The very high level of institutional commitment for this interactive interdepartmental program originally began with funding provided by then Dean of the College of Medicine (Dr. Gerald Moss) to stimulate the development of training programs in molecular and cellular biology. The first stage of this plan, initiated more than ten years ago, was the formation of an umbrella seed program, the Molecular and Cellular Biology Training Program, which allowed trainees to interact with all preceptors and which initially served as the admissions program for this training grant. Under this umbrella organization, the current STTP developed along with a number of other thematic NIH-funded training programs, both within UIC College of Medicine and inter-institutionally, in “Cellular Signaling in Cardiovascular Diseases”, “Lung Biology and Pathology”, “Molecular Training in Gastroenterology and Hematology,” and most recently the inter-college “Pharmacological Sciences Training Program.” As these interdepartmental and inter-college programs developed, matured and were funded, the individual training programs took direct responsibility for the recruitment of students into their programs, principally from the applicant pools accepted into the College of Medicine interdisciplinary “Graduate Education in the Medical Sciences” (GEMS) program and the graduate programs of the participating Departments in GEMS. Students recruited by the umbrella GEMS program and departmental graduate programs the GEMS students ultimately join, and faculty trainers within these programs are accepted into the STTP based upon their interests in signal transduction and relevant allied fields. Students interested in the STTP may rotate and choose a thesis lab from any of the participating faculty trainers within their departmental programs beginning in their second year. Our goals are to continue to provide the best training in signal transduction and cellular endocrinology in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Midwest. In so doing, we are attracting outstanding applicants to the GEMS program and its participating Departments. At the same time, this training program has been energizing our scientific interactions and contributing significantly to the overall UIC research environment by articulating an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary mission in both graduate and post-graduate education, training and research.