Training future leaders at the chemistry-biology interface

Abstract
This proposal describes plans to continue a rigorous chemistry-biology interface (CBI) predoctoral training
program that is student-centered and designed to provide trainees with core and cross training in chemistry and
biological sciences, various abilities to push the frontier of biomedical research at the chemistry-biology interface,
and the skills and awareness for diverse career paths. The program, which has been continuously funded by the
NIH since 1996, also promotes interdisciplinary collaborative research across the Cornell campus. We request
funds to support 10 predoctoral trainees. Each trainee will carry out his or her doctoral thesis research with one
or more of 30 faculty mentors affiliated with seven participating units: Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Biological
and Biomedical Sciences, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Microbiology and Immunology, Biochemistry
and Molecular Cell Biology, Plant Biology, and Nutritional Sciences. Participating faculty have well-funded
research programs in chemistry with strong connections to biology or vice versa. Students undergo training in
areas that are broadly distributed over chemistry (synthetic organic, bioorganic, bioinorganic, biophysical, natural
products, X-ray crystallography, metabolomics, and proteomics) and biology (protein structure and function,
enzymology, immunology, signal transduction, chemotaxis, cell biology, host/pathogen interactions, and
genomics). The CBI program continues to successfully merge the cultures of chemistry and biology with effective
didactic and programmatic initiatives, including the adaptation of evidence-based training strategies and mentor
training. CBI trainees take a core set of rigorous courses in both chemistry and biology and undergo responsible
conduct of research training as well as rigor and reproducibility training. Trainees attend seminars in their core
disciplines, participate together with faculty in a CBI seminar program, and organize an annual CBI symposium
that features speakers from diverse career sectors. In addition to research training, our CBI training program
puts career awareness and transferable skills training front and center. We design our career awareness and
transferable skills workshops to address gaps between career skills needed and skills developed in PhD training
that are reported in the literature and obtained through large-scale surveys. We require a sabbatical internship
(or employer site visits in special cases) to allow trainees to explore different career options first-hand. These
career training activities are designed based on the eight principles of experiential learning. The CBI training
activities are accessible to students who are not financially supported by the CBI program and thus have a larger
impact on Cornell campus. The program continues to produce a high-caliber cohort of trainees, who are
increasingly more diverse due to our continued recruitment efforts, with strong publication records and career
outcomes without increasing the time to degree.

Grant Number: 5T32GM138826-05
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Jeremy Baskin