# Antimicrobial Resistance and Therapeutic Discovery Training Program

> **NIH NIH T32** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $247,594

## Abstract

The challenge of drug-resistant microbes requires that a new generation of basic scientists be broadly trained
and educated in a triad of equally important sub-disciplines of anti-infective research: i.) mechanisms of
antimicrobial resistance (AMR); ii.) antimicrobial discovery and development; and iii.) vaccinology to prevent or
treat infections for which antimicrobial therapies are absent or becoming ineffectual due to AMR. The continued
success of the Antimicrobial Resistance and Therapeutic Discovery Training Program (ARTDTP) of Emory
University will help to ensure that a cadre of investigators will be available in the future to combat the global
health problem of AMR. This need for future scientists in anti-infective research is an international priority given
the reduced number of new, effective antimicrobials (antibiotics and antivirals) that have entered clinical practice
in the past two decades and the difficulty often faced by physicians in treating certain infections because of AMR
or the lack of effective therapeutics. Thus, the objective of the competitive renewal of ARTDTP is to provide high
quality training to a select group of highly motivated graduate students for careers as independent investigators.
Towards that end, ARTDTP will select five Ph.D. candidates yearly from four graduate programs within the
Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences and the Department of Chemistry for a two-year period
of training in the areas of AMR and therapeutic discovery through chemical or immunologic-based
strategies. ARTDTP faculty members who will serve as the pool of preceptors for trainees are highly
collaborative and span the university with academic appointments in basic science and clinical departments of
the School of Medicine and Emory College of Arts and Sciences. Educational training will consist of a
course of study and programmatic events in sub-disciplines that emphasize research and education in AMR
and drug discovery or vaccine development. ARTDTP will be governed by an Executive Committee and
evaluated bi-yearly by an external Advisory Committee and by trainees after completion of their two-year
program of training. Recruitment of under-represented minority students (URMS) from local and national
colleges and universities will be a priority for ARTDTP and specific initiatives coupled with university-based
programs will be employed to maximally train URMS. In addition to training in the sub-disciplines of anti-
infective research ARTDTP trainees will receive education in the essential concepts of rigor, reproducibility
and ethics that are needed for careers in the biological and biomedical fields. Upon completion of training
and receipt of the Ph.D. degree, ARTDTP trainees will be ready to assume post-doctoral positions in
academia, government or industry that continue their interests developed through the training experience
provided by our T32 pre-doctoral program.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10186684
- **Project number:** 5T32AI106699-07
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** William Maurice Shafer
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $247,594
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2014-06-01 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10186684

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10186684, Antimicrobial Resistance and Therapeutic Discovery Training Program (5T32AI106699-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10186684. Licensed CC0.

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