Training Grant in Pharmacological Sciences

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Graduate Training Program in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook trains Ph.D. students in the broad area of cell and molecular pharmacology for careers in academia and industry. The Program is based in the Department of Pharmacological Sciences in the School of Medicine at SUNY-Stony Brook, but has an interdepartmental faculty including 44 potential mentors, 24 of which are from other University Departments or the nearby Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratories. Students take courses in biochemistry, cell biology and molecular genetics in the first year, with pharmacology and elective courses in the second year. The curriculum includes advanced courses in Neuropharmacology, Signal Transduction and Structural Biology. Faculty members have been recruited to the Training Program to strengthen these areas. The training environment includes an active seminar series and permits participation in research symposia and minicourses. Training also involves experience teaching in courses offered to undergraduate majors in pharmacology. First year students participate in three laboratory rotations to prepare them to undertake dissertation research in any of the 44 laboratories of the Training Program Faculty. The program has trained 89 students in its 24-year history, including 25 current trainees. The presence and successful completion of minority students in the Program attests to a successful effort to recruit and retain minority applicants.