# Multidisciplinary Training in Vision and Research

> **NIH NIH T32** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $169,644

## Abstract

The objective of this long-standing vision training grant (VTG) program is to provide intensive basic and
translational science training for individuals to grow into world leaders in vision research. Training is provided in
the disciplines of cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, genetics,
developmental biology, neuroscience, biomedical engineering, and cancer biology. Emphasis is placed on
understanding fundamental mechanisms underlying normal ocular processes, as well as disorders of the
retina, choroid, cornea, lens, optic nerve, and central visual processing.
The program is a collaborative effort of basic sciences and clinical disciplines, providing the facilities and
supervision for laboratory investigation aligned with the major missions of the National Eye Institute. The VTG
faculty includes members of Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Morehouse School of
Medicine, and multiple departments at Emory University. The Program Director and Executive Committee
oversee the selection of trainees and the provision of appropriate background, technical training, and ongoing
research supervision by mentors. Thus, the program stimulates collaboration among vision scientists and their
trainees across the Atlanta Vision Research Community (AVRC). Our program successfully attracts minority
trainees to careers in eye research, drawing from outstanding resources of Atlanta academic and medical
institutions.
The trainees include: (1) predoctoral students from the interdisciplinary Graduate Programs of: Biochemistry,
Cell, and Developmental Biology; Neuroscience; Molecular and Systems Pharmacology; Genetics and
Molecular Biology; Cancer Biology; and departments of Chemistry; Psychology; Biology; and Biomedical
Engineering; and (2) postdoctoral fellows seeking advanced training with the VTG preceptors in a scientific
area pertinent to vision research. Pre- and postdoctoral trainees select a preceptor with whom they develop a
research proposal, conduct the research, and participate in the ongoing research projects of the mentor.
Predoctoral trainees are appointed to the VTG only after selecting a dissertation advisor who is a member of
the VTG faculty, usually after the first year of graduate study and passing written and oral qualifying exams. All
trainees are expected to participate in the Vision Research Seminar series, Data Seminars, journal club,
didactic course work, grand rounds, and other educational activities of the Emory Eye Center -- the focal point
for eye research and clinical care in the Atlanta area.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10134355
- **Project number:** 5T32EY007092-35
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** John M Nickerson
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $169,644
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1984-09-28 → 2025-01-01

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10134355

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10134355, Multidisciplinary Training in Vision and Research (5T32EY007092-35). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10134355. Licensed CC0.

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