# Drug Discovery in Infectious Disease Training

> **NIH NIH T32** · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $195,846

## Abstract

Project Summary
While treatments for eradicating some infectious diseases have been successful, there is still a large gap in the
treatment of infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites, in particular as drug resistance continues
to grow as a problem. To address this evolving issue, scientists are needed who are trained to understand how
pathogens interact with the host, in order to better uncover opportunities and strategies for drug discovery. This
training program’s goal is to address this need by providing qualified graduate students with broad training in
infectious diseases and drug discovery, complemented by professional development opportunities, that prepares
them for a long productive career in infectious disease related research. The training program includes 21 faculty
members from 6 departments across 4 different colleges at Purdue University. These faculty members have
diverse and complementary research interests in infectious disease, drug discovery and drug delivery, structural
biology, and molecular biology. All of these faculty members are part of the Purdue Institute of Inflammation,
Immunology and Infectious Disease and the Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery. These institutes bring faculty
and trainees together through shared research space, a seminar series, journal clubs, and social events,
resulting in a unique and supportive training environment for the “Drug Discovery in Infectious Disease Training”
program. In this program, students will develop expertise both in infectious disease and in drug discovery.
Specifically, trainees will take a course focused on: 1) infectious diseases and drug discovery and 2) biological
membranes (a common theme of pathogen entry, exit and replication). To promote responsible, rigorous and
reproducible research practices, students will complete courses in statistical analysis and the responsible
conduct in research. To develop written communication skills, trainees also will take a grant-writing course,
where they participate in a collaborative, active learning environment to gain feedback on the development of an
NIH F31 style proposal. Additional training activities include participating in a seminar series, attending
regional/national scientific meetings, and completing a capstone project in the area of drug discovery in infectious
disease. In completing this semester-long capstone project, trainees will build teamwork, critical thinking and
data analysis skills, all while working in the context of drug discovery and infectious disease. The capstone
project will be complemented with networking and learning opportunities with industrial partners who are
developing new drugs for infectious diseases. Further, fellows have the opportunity to engage in entrepreneurial
training, an important aspect of academic drug discovery. Using a jointly developed Individual Development Plan,
the trainees and mentors will create a training plan that is tailored towards the students’ traini...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10038159
- **Project number:** 1T32AI148103-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** PURDUE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert Virgil Stahelin
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $195,846
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-06-12 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10038159

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10038159, Drug Discovery in Infectious Disease Training (1T32AI148103-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10038159. Licensed CC0.

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