Tissue microenvironment (TIMe) training program

A quantitative understanding of the tissue microenvironment (TiMe) is critical for advancing biomedical knowledge and healthcare, ranging from regenerative medicine to managing the burden of cancer. To train productive bioengineering leaders, education in three technological areas is essential: (a) sensing and imaging to measure biochemical and biophysical properties, (b) bioengineering to recapitulate the TiMe, and (c) computational modeling and analytics to gain insight. Accordingly, we propose to continue the TiMe training program wherein predoctoral students integrate the three technological approaches with TiMe-related biological contexts of disease and development to launch successful research careers. Training includes four core components—Curricular Activities to ensure technical depth and critical thinking with apposite breadth across disciplines, Extracurricular Activities to develop pragmatic skills, Professional Development to empower trainees to become research leaders, and Career Development to position trainees to make lifelong contributions to society.

The activities are structured to streamline education and efficiently focus on research, with the awarded doctoral degree to include a special designation (concentration in TiMe). This past project period was our second and progress was made in refining the program, its activities and evaluation. Building upon the success of trainees (all ten graduated are in biomedical research careers, ~5.5. papers per trainee, and significant follow-on funding and awards), we propose to continue student development activities, add a novel hands-on education component based on a newly constructed laboratory and emphasize emerging scientific topics including machine learning, imaging for spatial biology, and design thinking. Illinois has exceptionally strong disciplinary programs, highly effective scientists and mentors as faculty, appropriate facilities and unique resources in each of these technological areas.

The TiMe Training Program is distinctly advantaged by our strong history of successful graduate training, including a culture of productive collaboration, a 20-year old Department of Bioengineering, and strong institutional support (matching direct support - $1.5 M and $2.9 M of total support). Forty faculty will serve as faculty mentors and other university faculty with expertise in pedagogy, evaluation and professional development, provide critical resources for the program. We propose to educate at least ten trainees (four from NIH support and six matching slots from Institutional support) for up to two years each. Four NIH-supported trainees will be appointed annually from a strong applicant pool across campus.

Traditional education will further be enhanced by co-mentored research with possibilities of translational opportunities via a new engineering-based College of Medicine. Outcomes will be rigorously evaluated throughout the program to improve training, to guide administrative decision-making and to disseminate best practices. The vision, expertise, and infrastructure of the Illinois TiMe Training Program will ensure that trainees selected from a large and well-qualified graduate community will provide sustained research contributions to benefit public health.

Grant Number: 5T32EB019944-10
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Rohit Bhargava