# Vision Science Training Program

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2021 · $234,423

## Abstract

7. Project Summary/Abstract:
This is a competing renewal for an NRSA Research Training Grant (T32- EY007026). The Vision Science
Training Program (VSTP) has its home in the Jules Stein Eye Institute (JSEI), University of California, Los
Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine, and has been continuously active for more than 40 years. During this
period the VSTP has trained nearly 140 scientists, a large portion who have gone on to distinguished careers
in vision science. The Program covers the training of both predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows, and takes
place in the laboratories of 14 faculty mentors. These vision scientists possess expertise in a wide range of
disciplines and hold academic appointments in 13 departments at UCLA. Applicants for predoctoral
fellowships first enter UCLA through one of several graduate programs, and they complete the curriculum
associated with that program. After a year of rotations they join the laboratory of a VSTP mentor. Applicants
for postdoctoral fellowships apply directly to the VSTP lab of interest. All trainees that are members of VSTP
labs are invited to participate in the curricular offerings of this program. These offerings are collectively
designed to provide experimental and conceptual training in vision science, as many of the trainees have no
prior experience in vision science. All fellows are required to take Fundamentals of Vision Research, a
quarter-long course organized and taught by VSTP members. Additionally fellows are integral members of the
scientific environment at JSEI through attendance and participation in a number of events, including the weekly
Vision Science Seminar Series, the Vision Science Journal Club, and the Annual Vision Science Retreat held
in Lake Arrowhead. A particular focus of the VSTP for this grant period is the stronger integration of basic and
clinical science. Several offerings will help bridge the gap between these two research focuses by facilitating
interactions between the scientists and the clinicians, including the Annual UCLA Stein Eye Clinical and
Research Seminar, Translational Grand Rounds, and a Basic-Clinical Science Exchange program. Such
experiences will help trainees to place their research into the context of visual health and disease. A major
addition to the VSTP will be a dedicated program focused on the postdoctoral trainees, to support their
transition to independent investigators. An NRSA F32 Training Course will be offered to all postdoctoral
fellows in VSTP labs to provide formal training in how to craft and submit an effective NIH research proposal.
Given the interdisciplinary nature of vision research, the overall goal of the VSTP is to bring together faculty
with a wide range of expertise (including anatomy, biochemistry, biophysics, chemistry, molecular biology,
physiology, pharmacology, cell biology, and developmental biology) to provide interdisciplinary experimental
and conceptual training to predoctoral and postdoctoral candidates seeking t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10249158
- **Project number:** 5T32EY007026-45
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Alapakkam P Sampath
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $234,423
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10249158

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10249158, Vision Science Training Program (5T32EY007026-45). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10249158. Licensed CC0.

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