The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is renewing UCLA’s Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) Predoctoral Research Training Program for the next five years, bringing to campus almost $ $2.5 million in critical fellowship support for graduate students in multiple departments.
“This is exciting news,” said Professor Patrick Harran, program Director and Primary Investigator since 2023. “This training grant supports an exceptionally talented group of graduate students and facilitates interdisciplinary collaborations across campus”.
The Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) Predoctoral Research Training Program is a unique multidisciplinary Ph.D. training program that trains students in the underlying chemical principles which govern biological processes with the goal of equipping students with the chemical knowledge to solve biological problems. This dynamic approach exposes students to research opportunities outside of their current area of expertise, and provides mentorship and professional development opportunities within the chemistry-biology interface. Funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), CBI is an NIH NRSA T32 Institutional Research Training Grant program which has existed at UCLA since 1993.
Faculty mentors come from the Schools of Medicine, Engineering, Life Sciences, and Physical Sciences and are trained in areas of expertise as diverse as Chemistry and Biochemistry, Psychiatry, Molecular Biology, Physiology, and Pharmacology. The diverse set of distinguished faculty who participate in the training grant’s leadership contribute to a track record of student success. Students with a Biology focus choose a Chemistry Training Faculty member, and students with a Chemistry focus choose a Biology Training Faculty mentor to act as collaborator and mentor. Students work with their mentor and collaboratively with other students on a variety of projects, and all students are exposed to cutting-edge, intensive laboratory research training within their own specialization and in outside areas of expertise. Each student’s course of study is individually tailored to suit their interests, and the training grant provides a launching pad for varied careers in academia, private industry, and consulting.
Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penjen@g.ucla.edu.
