Biotechnology Training Program - University of Virginia

The Biotechnology Training Program (BTP) at the University of Virginia (UVa) is an National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored PhD level research program founded in 2000. The BTP is open to all UVa PhD students in any science or engineering department at UVa . It is one of nineteen NIH BTP's nationwide and the only one in Virginia.

History

Beginning in 1989 and continuing through the 1990s, a group of medical school labs interested in the interaction of cells with extracellular matrix met monthly to share data as the Matrix Group. Several seminars per year from well-known experts were also organized. The group evolved into a critical mass of nineteen independently funded mentors from thirteen different basic science and clinical departments in the Schools of Medicine and Engineering. In January 1998 the Group sought student 'biotechnology' funding from the NIH. This NIH support mechanism was established by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences in 1988 after prompting from the United States Congress. A revision of the proposal was funded in 2000. This gave birth to the UVa Biotechnology Training Program in a form that extended beyond Matrix Group themes to a wide variety of biological, engineering and technological topics. Since 2000, the BTP has trained or is currently training over forty students from home departments in Cell Biology, Chemistry, Microbiology, Physiology, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Systems Engineering. Among alumni, two are now Assistant Professors. Some are currently training as postdoctoral fellows. Others have taken permanent employment in government or industry.

Mission

The mission of the BTP is threefold:

1. First and foremost to transform undergraduates into high caliber scientists.
2. To educate students in the different cultures of science. All students train for 1 – 3 months in an industrial setting within or outside of the United States.
3. To promote synergy among the disciplines via data sharing, seminars and symposia. This is an opportune time for students to be brushing shoulders with fellows in engineering, chemistry or biology. This union of disciplines stimulates new ideas and perspectives. This is the foundation for novel basic science and biotechnological innovation.

Admissions

Applicants are primarily in the first year of their departmental PhD program. According to NIH guidelines, only US citizen or green card holders can be supported. Assuming this criterion is met, any PhD science student is eligible to apply1, even if their mentor has not previously been associated with the BTP. The deadline is yearly in late April or early May. Admission is academically selective. To expose the BTP to minorities and the disadvantaged, the BTP formally interacts with programs at Norfolk State University and Virginia Union University, and is seeking collaborations with southwest Virginia.

Curriculum

BTP training is research directed. Research is time consuming. Extra courses2 beyond departmental PhD courses are minimized to an introductory chemical engineering course approachable by both non-engineers and engineers, and a course each in statistics and research ethics. The required cell or biological chemistry courses are usually completed as part of departmental requirements.

Current research

BTP research themes are broad and overlapping. Many have a foundation or are directed towards cell or tissue biology. These themes are as follows. (i) Engineering cell and tissue biomatrices, cell signaling, mechanotransduction and kinetics. (ii) Biodetection assays, genomics/proteomics, protein structure, immune therapy. (iii) Biomaterials/bioprocessing, combinatorial chemistry, [...] screening/purification/delivery together encompass broad areas of discovery research and [...] development. (iv) Bacterial chemotaxis/infection/metabolism, biodefense. (iv) Gene regulation mechanisms, genetic disease/regenerative medicine, cell therapy. Needed is a new generation of young scientists who approach new scientific challenges with analytical minds and an extensive array of modern technologies

Faculty

Mentoring BTP students is a highly engaged, collaborative and well-funded faculty of forty-five Assistant, Associate and full Professors from a diversity of science departments.

Program features

The BTP is a training program 'for the students by the students. Trainees take direct responsibility for programmatic features including: editorship of the BTP newsletter, organization of BTP Minority Day, high school and Day of Caring outreach, BTP poster presentations at other institutions, organization of BTP seminars, social activities, new student dinner, and BTP Symposia. For more information, contact mthall@virginia.edu.

Other BTPs

Other institutions with NIGMS supported BTPs3 include: University of California Berkeley (schaffer@cchem.berkeley.edu), University of California Davis (bdhammock@ucdavis.edu), University of California Los Angeles (hmonbouq@ucla.edu), University of California, San Diego (wfenical@ucsd.edu), University of Colorado at Boulder (theodore.randolph@colorado.edu), Georgia Institute of Technology (Northwestern University), University of Iowa (daniel-quinn@uiowa.edu), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (wittrup@mit.edu), University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (jswan@umich.edu), University of Minnesota (wshu@cems.umn.edu), Rutgers The State University of New Jersey (hpederse@sol.rutgers.edu), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (dordick@rpi.edu), Duke University (reichert@acpub.duke.edu), North Carolina State University, Raleigh (rmkelly@eos.ncsu.edu), Rice University (jwest@rice.edu ), Washington State University (reevesr@wsu.edu), University of Wisconsin Madison (biotech@bact.wisc.edu).

External links

• http://www.virginia.edu/
• http://faculty.virginia.edu/biotech/index.html
• http://oscar.virginia.edu/researchnews/x7772.xml
• http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Training/InstPredoc/
• http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Training/InstPredoc/PredocDesc-Biotechnology.htm
• http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Training/InstPredoc/PredocInst-Biotechnology.htm
• http://www.nsu.edu/biotechnology/
• http://www.vuu.edu/academics/sciencefaculty.htm
• http://www.dayofcaring.info/
• http://www.jmu.edu/biology/biotechnology.shtml