GSBSE NIH T32 Institutional Research Training Grant Awarded
The goal of this Transdisciplinary Predoctoral Training Program is to provide future scientists and engineers with a uniquely integrative education to facilitate their development as innovative transdisciplinary scientists. The Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering (GSBSE) at the University of Maine is an ideal home for this transdisciplinary T32 because GSBSE is a statewide biomedical science and engineering PhD program that encompasses not only UMaine, but also the Jackson Laboratory, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, MaineHealth Institute for Research, and the University of New England. Thus, the GSBSE leverages the existing expertise and infrastructure of the state’s premier biomedical research programs.
GSBSE significantly contributes to Maine’s burgeoning focus on bioscience by nucleating new collaborations within and between GSBSE institutions. With 150 faculty and 90 students, the GSBSE’s research mission is broad and spans the areas of computational biology, bioinformatics, mammalian genetics, cell and molecular biology, developmental biology, biomedical engineering, neuroscience, and general medical sciences. The GSBSE emphasizes transdisciplinary collaboration and skills required for team science to prepare students for future biomedical research. The 2019-2024 T32 Transdisciplinary Predoctoral Training Program in Biomedical Science and Engineering, UMaine’s first T32, has been very successful. It supported 17 trainees for their first and second years, with 5 subsequently receiving F31 grants. The T32 also contributed to increased diversity and inclusion of students underrepresented in biomedical research.
The GSBSE was founded in 2006 and, along with the first T32, has built a strong foundation for this proposed renewal, which includes: active participation of 64 funded faculty members who are committed to co-mentorship in transdisciplinary research, full support of partner institutes who provide resources and commitment to predoctoral trainees, a strong foundational curriculum in the biomedical sciences integrated with engineering principles, and advisory committees to oversee and evaluate program outcomes.
With this foundation, this T32 will initiate new training strategies. One change endorsed by the external advisory committee is that trainees will be funded in their second and third years to ensure that all trainees take advantage of a co-mentorship model that supports transdisciplinary research. This program will be administered at the University of Maine and incorporates a multiple PI model. Drs. Gregory Cox (Director, GSBSE), Clarissa Henry (Professor, University of Maine) and Lucy Liaw (Faculty Scientist, MaineHealth Institute for Research) all have significant mentorship, administrative, and leadership experience. The PIs are geographically distributed in each of the two hubs of concentration of the partner institutions. This T32 proposes to provide support for 8 predoctoral students in their second and third years of study, all of whom will receive the enhanced training strategies described in this proposal.
Eligible GSBSE students can apply to become a T32 fellows in a competitive process once they reach their 2nd or 3rd year in the program. The call for GSBSE student proposals went out recently and selections will be made by mid September 2025 for AY25/26.