# Interdisciplinary Predoctoral Training in Bioinnovation

> **NIH NIH T32** · TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA · 2022 · $211,169

## Abstract

Project Summary
A T32 pre-doctoral training program will be initiated in Tulane University’s Interdisciplinary PhD
Program in Bioinnovation. This will cultivate PhD students’ abilities to develop clinically relevant
biomedical technologies that may lead to marketable products. The career development aspect is
timely, as 50-75% of PhD science/engineering graduates pursue careers outside of academia, and the
conventional graduate school apprenticeship model does not adequately prepare these students for
professional life beyond the university. This project is designed to prepare students for biomedical
science and engineering careers at the interface of academia, industry, and government.
The training plan includes three Program Aims:
· PROGRAM AIM 1 (Research): Fellows will complete a translational biomedical research project
 with an emphasis on either imaging or transport processes that are fundamental to elucidating or
 manipulating physiological/cellular systems and are ripe for the creation of biomedical technologies.
· PROGRAM AIM 2 (Educational Curriculum): The curriculum will educate trainees about scientific
 fundamentals, biomedical systems analysis, product conceptualization, analysis and design,
 entrepreneurship, IP and regulatory mechanisms, and market responses to innovation. This broad
 curriculum will expand trainees career horizon.
· PROGRAM AIM 3 (Community): This project will reinforce a Bioinnovation community that
 emphasizes interdisciplinary interactions, and will improve the Bioinnovation ecosystem in our New
 Orleans region.
Key activities include:
· Laboratory rotations in the Tulane’s Schools of Science and Engineering, Medicine, and Public
 Health and Tropical Medicine and thus provide trainees with a perspective of resources and
 research questions from which to build and integrate translational technologies;
· A required externship at the FDA in Silver Springs, MD. This provides students with an
 understanding of the regulatory environment that must be negotiated if a translational project is to
 become a marketable product, and
· Curricular emphases on innovation and entrepreneurship that facilitates communication with
 supporters of biomedical technology development.
This 5-year project will fund 12 pre-doctoral fellows; each with 2 years of T32 support and 1 academic
year of Tulane support. This 5-year project thus funds 33 fellow-years of support for T32 trainees.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10409718
- **Project number:** 5T32EB027632-04
- **Recipient organization:** TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
- **Principal Investigator:** DONALD P. GAVER
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $211,169
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-05-01 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10409718

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10409718, Interdisciplinary Predoctoral Training in Bioinnovation (5T32EB027632-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10409718. Licensed CC0.

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