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  • Former Training Programs   

    Computational and Structural Biology in Biodefense Training Program (CSBB)

    This multidisciplinary predoctoral training program in Computational and Structural Biology in Biodefense spanned the fields of biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, structural biology, bioinformatics, genomics, proteomics, database management, chemical biology, cell biology, immunology, virology and pathology. The last 20 years have seen a remarkable resurgence of infectious diseases and the emergence of new ones, such as AIDS and SARS, as well as the new threat from bioterrorism. Consequently, there is a critical need to train first-rate, imaginative and creative scientists in this multidisciplinary field.    

    32 faculty participated in this program and served as mentors or co-mentors to trainees. Part of the success of this program was the team-based, multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional groups of scientists who have worked together for more than 14 years, consisting of researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, University of Houston, The University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, and The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

    The Gulf Coast Consortia/Keck Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience Research and Training provides research, infrastructure and training supported for the training program in Computational and Structural Biology in Biodefense. Additional support came from the Western Regional Center of Excellence in Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Galveston National Laboratory.        

    Biomedical Discovery Training Program (BMDTP)

    The goal of this program was to train students to become proficient in the following areas:

    1. Data Acquisition. This included knowledge of the methods of genomics, proteomics and imaging. 

    2.     Computation. This included knowledge of mathematical and statistical algorithms, implementation of effective computer codes as well as an emphasis on methods of data warehousing in relational, deductive and other databases.

    3.     Data Integration. This was a critical area that involved extracting useful information from the heterogeneous data sets at various spatial and temporal scales. It included knowledge of methods of modeling and simulation of systems from the molecular to the organismal level. There was also an emphasis on computational data mining methods. 

    The core of the program was research-based training in interdisciplinary teams under the guidance of at least two mentors from disparate disciplines 
    (i.e., computational/mathematical and biomedical sciences).     

     

    Keck Computational Biology Training Program (KCB)

    We cross train new scientists in both computational science and a specialized area of biology, to create a new generation of scientists that bring the power of both these fields to bear on important questions on the cellular and molecular basis of biological processes. Funded by the W. M. Keck Foundation, this computational biology training program has supported over 30 pre- and postdoctoral fellows since its inception in 2001. This 5-year program, which will be completed at the end of 2006, has been instrumental in training the next generation of bioscientists to prepare them for careers as multi- and interdisciplinary investigators. 

       

    The W. M. Keck Center for Virus Imaging (KVI)

    The W. M. Keck Center for Virus Imaging was established through a generous gift from the W. M. Keck Foundation in 2004, as well as matching funds from the Kleburg Foundation and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston (UTMB). The Center serves as a unique research and training facility to study the assembly, replication and structure of emerging viruses that present a threat to the United States and other regions of the world. This new facility, the first U.S. laboratory of its kind in a biosafety Level 3 containment environment, includes a state-of-the-art confocal microscope and houses a 200V cryo-electron microscope to study viruses and other pathogenic microorganisms. Remote capabilities will allow virologists worldwide to establish collaborations at UTMB. 

    Nanobiology Training Program (NBTP)

    The Keck Center of the Gulf Coast Consortia has established a training program in Nanobiology, supported by an NIH funded training grant designed in response to the NIH Roadmap Initiative, Training for a New Interdisciplinary Workforce (  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/t90.htm). 

            

    Pharmacoinformatics Training Program (PI)

    The Keck Center of the Gulf Coast Consortia established a training program in Pharmacoinformatics in 2004. Supported by an NIH funded training grant, the training program is designed in response to the Roadmap Initiative, Training for a New Interdisciplinary Workforce (  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/t90.htm). 

      

    Undergraduate Research Training Program (URTP)

    In 1995, the Keck Center for Computational and Structural Biology inaugurated its Undergraduate Research Training Program (URTP). URTP trainees participate in computational biology research in a laboratory or group setting alongside other undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows, under the guidance of a faculty mentor of their choosing. Mentors are chosen from participating Keck Center faculty members and are committed to helping undergraduate trainees have a significant learning experience in their individual labs. During the summer session, trainees attend a specially-tailored program of presentations designed to introduce them to a broad spectrum of subdisciplines of computational and structural biology (such as 3D electron crystallography, molecular dynamics, or sequence analysis), workshops, and specially designed tours of research and clinical facilities in the Texas Medical Center, such as the advanced crystallography facilities at Rice, Baylor College of Medicine's Human Genome Sequencing Center, and UH's Texas Learning and Computation Center. All URTP trainees work closely with their faculty mentor and will also meet as a group with members of the Center's URTP committee during their appointments for roundtable discussions that track their progress, help sort out problems, and touch informally on such significant issues as the importance of basic science research, career paths in science, and other educational issues. Trainees are required to attend all seminars, to submit an interim and final progress report, and to offer an oral and poster presentation on their work at the culminating mini-symposium at the end of the summer session. Junior or Senior Undergraduates with aspirations of graduate study in structural and/or computational biology are preferred applicants, but all applications will be considered.     

        

  • Upcoming Events

    06/21/2012
    Lung Research Day
    Speaker(s): Michael R Blackburn, PhD, David B Corry, MD, Istvan Boldogh, DM&B, PhD, DHC, Burton F Dickey, MD, Richard A Bond, PhD, N Tony Eissa, Allan R Brasier, MD, Farrah Kheradmand, MD, William J Calhoun, MD, FACP, FCCP, FAAAAI, FACAAI, Yi-Ping Li, PhD
    BioScience Research Collaborative

     

    09/07/2012
    Keck Seminar
    BioScience Research Collaborative

     

    09/14/2012
    Keck Seminar
    BioScience Research Collaborative

     

    09/14/2012
    Center for NeuroEngineering Annual Symposium
    BioScience Research Collaborative

     

    09/21/2012
    Keck Seminar
    BioScience Research Collaborative