# Plant Biotechnology for Health and Sustainability

> **NIH NIH T32** · MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $329,616

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Plants convert sunlight into chemical energy, synthesizing hundreds of thousands of organic compounds from
carbon dioxide and minerals, and sustaining life on earth. Plants and photosynthetic bacteria shape our
environment and create the atmospheric oxygen we breathe, making life on earth possible. Thus, plants provide
humans with essential nutrients, medicines, shelter and energy. For millennia, humans have harvested and
utilized plants to produce foods, pharmaceuticals, and fuels. Human benefits from plants progressed from
foraging to intensive agriculture and currently derive from biotechnology and synthetic biology. Utilizing the
metabolic potential of photosynthetic organisms in an increasingly sustainable manner requires the expertise of
plant biologists, microbiologists, and biotechnologists. While biotechnology can address many of the challenges
currently threatening our well-being, maintaining or improving the health of a growing world population in the
face of a changing environment requires that plant and microbial scientists receive innovative and cross-
disciplinary training. The Plant Biotechnology for Health and Sustainability (PBHS) graduate training program
fosters the education, training, and professional development of the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists
who will assume leadership positions in biotechnology-related careers including academia, industry,
entrepreneurship, and government. PBHS emphasizes a set of core competencies, including knowledge of a
broad set of technical domains, developing critical thinking and communication skills essential for effective
collaboration across disciplines. A training emphasis is placed on building specific skill sets designed to promote
personal and professional development.
Bachelor’s and master’s degree level trainees enter the PBHS program at the start of their third semester of
predoctoral training. During the second year of predoctoral work, trainees take specialized courses designed to
cover current concepts in plant and microbial biotechnology, computational research and bioinformatics, effective
management of collaborative efforts, and approaches for translation of basic research into commercial products.
The program will provide two years of support to six predoctoral students at a time. For the duration of their
predoctoral training, the fellows will continue to participate in program professional development activities,
including training in reproducible science, mentoring, and communication skills development. The program
includes support for students to participate in industrial internships as well as annual symposia and retreats
designed to build a student cohort, broaden the professional networks of trainees, and highlight cutting-edge
plant biotechnologies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10782374
- **Project number:** 1T32GM152798-01
- **Recipient organization:** MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Daniel C Ducat
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $329,616
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-07-01 → 2029-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10782374

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10782374, Plant Biotechnology for Health and Sustainability (1T32GM152798-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10782374. Licensed CC0.

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