# Training Program in Molecular and Integrative Physiological Sciences

> **NIH NIH T32** · HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · 2021 · $707,981

## Abstract

Abstract
We request ongoing support for years 46-50 of our interdisciplinary T32 training program in Molecular and
Integrative Physiological Sciences (MIPS). Supporting 3 predoctoral and 7 postdoctoral trainees, this T32
integrates cellular & molecular biology, physical sciences & engineering, and data science & bioinformatics.
This training program has been highly effective, as evidenced by its 15-year metrics: 66 of 68 T32 trainees
remain in bioscience. Half are women; 10 are underrepresented minorities, URM. Predocs: 18 of 18 graduates
remain in bioscience: 11 went on to postdoctoral training, 1 to MD training, 4 to academics, and 2 to
biotech/health-care. Postdocs: 35 of 37 graduates remain in bioscience: 29 of 37 remain in academics,
including 4 of 5 MDs. Of these graduates, 17 of 37 earned tenure-track faculty status at rank of assistant
professor or higher, 6 of 37 are in biotech or healthcare research, one is in patent law and one in private
medical practice. The rest remain in training. These 17 faculty-level graduates have garnered thus far 9 career
development awards (e.g., ALA, AHA, Parker B. Francis, and others) as well as 6 F awards, 9 K awards, 17 R
awards or equivalent. In 44 years of continuous support, we have never had an unfilled slot. To sustain such a
complex, rich and successful T32 for such an extended period of time, we follow a simple formula: strategic
succession planning, ongoing critical self-evaluation, and continuous scientific reinvention. Accordingly, in the
next 5 years, we propose to: 1) expand our mentoring faculty from 11 to 18, of whom 8 are women; 2)
transition seamlessly to the next leadership team; and 3) revamp our mentoring plan. Through a highly
competitive and rigorous admission process, we select trainees with backgrounds in biology, medicine,
engineering, physics, or data science on the basis of academic record, research potential, and commitment to
interdisciplinary lung research. These trainees work side-by-side on problems at the intersection of pulmonary
sciences and environmental exposures. These themes foster exceptional levels of collaboration among
trainees guided by a faculty with diverse yet highly complementary expertise. For example, again and again
over the years our faculty and trainees have invented transformative technologies that went on to become
widely adopted –from the iron lung decades ago, to Fourier-transform traction microscopy, to single-cell
genome-wide expression profiling using DNA-based barcodes with drop-based microfluidics. As such, our
faculty and trainees remain at the cutting edge of technological innovation because they themselves help to
create that cutting edge. These advances exemplify that the modern research team needs strong grounding in
basic biology, genomics, bioengineering, biophysics, exposure assessment and population sciences, as well
as increasingly sophisticated analyses of big data and bioinformatics. We adopt the approach that the modern
trainee can...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10088872
- **Project number:** 2T32HL007118-46
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** Jeffrey J Fredberg
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $707,981
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1975-07-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10088872

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10088872, Training Program in Molecular and Integrative Physiological Sciences (2T32HL007118-46). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10088872. Licensed CC0.

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