T32 Training Program Opportunities
Postdoctoral Scholars
These training programs are competitive with limited numbers of trainees accepted each year. If you are a postdoctoral scholar at UT Southwestern Medical Center and interested in any of the training programs listed below, please talk with your mentor and email the contact person listed for the specific program for application details.
- Cancer Biology
Funded by: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Term: September 1, 2023–August 31, 2028
PI/PRogram Director Jerry Shay, Ph.D.
Contact: jerry.shay@utsouthwestern.eduThis predoctoral and postdoctoral training program emphasizes bench to bedside research encompassing state-of-the-art areas of cancer research. Along with training in the fundamentals of cancer research and sound scientific theory, trainees are provided access to methods in fundamental drug discovery using high throughput chemical and genetic screens to define cellular networks, signal transduction pathways, DNA damage and repair responses, and nanomedicine-targeted therapeutic drug delivery using cell and animal molecular imaging.
The problem of cancer in the 21st century remains a national priority, and as such offers a substantive long-term career opportunity for the training of predoctoral and postdoctoral students. The goals of our program are to train top-quality scientists capable of conducting independent cancer research, to foster the intellectual, technical, and communication skills required to succeed in the academic or industrial arenas of today and in the future, and to provide an understanding of the basic, public health, and clinical problems of human cancer.
The ability of this training grant to bridge an existing outstanding foundation of faculty in basic science with newly developed Cancer Biology and Therapy Programs in the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, distinguishes it from a standardized general graduate and postgraduate educational program.
We have approximately 45 committed faculty trainers representing 16 different Departments and Centers at UT Southwestern. We have assembled a dedicated group of leaders that constitute the Steering Committee of the Training Program, along with administrative support and both intellectual and financial support from the Director of the Cancer Center.
We have an integrated plan for the Cancer Training Program for both predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees that details all key steps in cancer education and training, including biomedical ethics and the responsible conduct of science. We recruit from a geographically broad range of predoctoral and postdoctoral applicants as well as underrepresented diversity trainees.
We have expanded and implemented our cancer didactic and journal oriented courses, both basic and translational as well as a monthly cancer center trainee meeting. We highlight our selected trainees’ accomplishments and provide additional opportunities for these trainees in addition to our standard curriculum. Some of these include opportunities to attend meetings, and special lunches to interact with visiting faculty and to interact with each other on a regular basis.
- Endocrine and Metabolism Training Grant
Funded by: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Term: July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2028
PI/Program Director: Philipp Scherer, Ph.D.
Contact: Philipp.Scherer@utsouthwestern.eduOur Endocrine and Metabolism Training Grant is a highly successful, multicenter and multidepartmental training program that provides M.D. and Ph.D. trainees with a firm base in state-of-the-art methodologies and to prepare them for future academic careers in metabolism research. Established investigators from several departments and a number of centers join forces to provide our trainees with a multifaceted and diverse training program.
Participating centers include the Touchstone Center for Diabetes Research, the Center for Hypothalamic Research, the Advanced Imaging Research Center, the McDermott Center for Human Growth, the Center for Human Nutrition and the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. Areas of expertise include systemic and cellular metabolism, diabetes, lipid biosynthesis, obesity, genetics of reproduction, and steroid hormone biosynthesis and action.
Our mentors direct highly competitive research programs of national and international stature. Our trainees can take advantage of a very strong research infrastructure that allows them to address physiological, biochemical, and cell biological problems with emerging technologies and the latest instrumentation. The 40 trainers form a tightly interconnected, highly integrated group of investigators that cover all of the relevant areas in metabolism research and a number of subspecialties in endocrine research.
Metabolism research at UT Southwestern has experienced a dramatic programmatic expansion over the past several years. The Medical Center has made a major commitment toward complementing existing areas of expertise by targeted recruitment of key personnel to fill existing gaps. The current epidemic of obesity and its pathophysiological sequelae are on the rise. We aim to train the next generation of metabolism researchers and endocrinologists to cope with this enormous public health problem and to develop innovative approaches to combat metabolic dysfunction.
- Molecular Microbiology Training Program
Funded by: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Term: September 1, 2019–August 31, 2024
PI/Program Director: Julie Pfeiffer, Ph.D.
Contact: Julie.Pfeiffer@utsouthwestern.eduThe National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health has funded a five-year training program at UT Southwestern to support five graduate students and two postdoctoral fellows in a progressive Molecular Microbiology Training Program (MMTP).
A particularly attractive feature of this MMTP is its departure from conventional program, or departmental-based, training to an interdisciplinary program that maintains a microbiology orientation, while broadening the scope of the training mission to include many other aspects of molecular and cell biology.
The diverse backgrounds of the 24 faculty trainers, comprised of a core group of established investigators with accomplished records and an expanding new faculty, represent interdisciplinary research programs bound by the common theme of molecular and cellular microbiology. The training faculty emanate from nine different Medical School departments and centers.
The overall objective is to train students and postdoctoral fellows for research careers in the molecular basis of microbial pathogenesis, cellular microbiology, host defense mechanisms, vaccine development, and other related areas. In general, activities toward the Ph.D. degree include:
- Required coursework, supplemented with multidisciplinary electives
- Special training in the ethical conduct of science
- Attendance at and participation in seminars, research forums, socials, and journal clubs
- Achievement on a grant application style qualifying examination
- Intensive research culminating in the doctoral dissertation
Postdoctoral fellows enroll in UT Southwestern’s Certificate Program and are provided the opportunity to consolidate basic skills, develop independence in scientific thinking and research planning, obtain specialized training in writing, and learn new areas of basic scientific inquiry and technology (e.g., translational research). Fellows also are involved in teaching, presenting journal clubs and research seminars, and contributing to the general "ferment" that drives scientific progress.
We expect that trainees who complete this program will become skilled in applying contemporary approaches to solve important problems in the medical microbiological sciences, and in improving preventive and/or therapeutic intervention strategies.
Graduate Students
These training programs are competitive, with limited numbers of trainees accepted each year. If you are a graduate student at UT Southwestern Medical Center and interested in any of the training programs listed below, please talk with your mentor and email the contact person listed for the specific program for application details.
- Cancer Biology
Funded by: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Term: September 1, 2023–August 31, 2028
PI/PRogram Director Jerry Shay, Ph.D.
Contact: jerry.shay@utsouthwestern.eduThis predoctoral and postdoctoral training program emphasizes bench-to-bedside research encompassing state-of-the-art areas of cancer research. Along with training in the fundamentals of cancer research and sound scientific theory, trainees are provided access to methods in fundamental drug discovery using high-throughput chemical and genetic screens to define cellular networks, signal transduction pathways, DNA damage and repair responses, and nanomedicine-targeted therapeutic drug delivery using cell and animal molecular imaging.
The problem of cancer in the 21st century remains a national priority, and as such offers a substantive long-term career opportunity for the training of predoctoral and postdoctoral students. The goals of our program are to train top-quality scientists capable of conducting independent cancer research, to foster the intellectual, technical, and communication skills required to succeed in the academic or industrial arenas of today and in the future, and to provide an understanding of the basic, public health, and clinical problems of human cancer.
The ability of this training grant to bridge an existing outstanding foundation of faculty in Basic Science with newly developed Cancer Biology and Therapy Programs in the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center distinguishes it from a standardized general graduate and post-graduate educational program.
We have approximately 45 committed faculty trainers representing 16 different departments and centers at UT Southwestern. We have assembled a dedicated group of leaders that constitute the steering committee, along with administrative, intellectual, and financial support from the Director of the Cancer Center.
We have an integrated plan for the Cancer Training Program for both predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees that details all key steps in cancer education and training, including biomedical ethics and the responsible conduct of science. We recruit from a geographically broad range of pre-doctoral and postdoctoral applicants as well as underrepresented diversity trainees.
We have expanded and implemented our cancer didactic and journal-oriented courses, both basic and translational, as well as a monthly cancer center trainee meeting. We highlight our selected trainees’ accomplishments and provide additional opportunities for these trainees in addition to our standard curriculum. These include opportunities to attend meetings, and special lunches to interact with visiting faculty and to interact with each other on a regular basis.
- Molecular Microbiology Training Program
Funded by: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Term: September 1, 2019–August 31, 2024
PI/Program Director: Julie Pfeiffer, Ph.D.
Contact: Julie.Pfeiffer@utsouthwestern.eduThe National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health has funded a five-year training program at UT Southwestern to support five graduate students and two postdoctoral fellows in a progressive Molecular Microbiology Training Program (MMTP).
The MMTP departs from conventional program- or department-based training to an interdisciplinary program that maintains a microbiology orientation while including many other aspects of molecular and cell biology.
The diverse backgrounds of the 24 faculty trainers – a core group of established investigators with accomplished records and an expanding new faculty – are bound by the common theme of molecular and cellular microbiology. The training faculty comes from nine different medical school departments and centers.
The overall objective is to train students and postdoctoral fellows for research careers in the molecular basis of microbial pathogenesis, cellular microbiology, host defense mechanisms, vaccine development, and other related areas. Activities toward the Ph.D. degree include:
- Required coursework, supplemented with multidisciplinary electives
- Special training in the ethical conduct of science
- Attendance at and participation in seminars, research forums, socials, and journal clubs
- Achievement on a grant application style qualifying examination
- Intensive research culminating in the doctoral dissertation
Postdoctoral fellows enroll in UT Southwestern’s Certificate Program and can consolidate basic skills, develop independence in scientific thinking and research planning, obtain specialized training in writing, and learn new areas of basic scientific inquiry and technology (e.g., translational research). Fellows also are involved in teaching, presenting journal clubs and research seminars, and contributing to the general “ferment” that drives scientific progress.
We expect that trainees who complete this program will become skilled in applying contemporary approaches to solve important problems in the medical microbiological sciences, and in improving preventive and/or therapeutic intervention strategies.
