# Interdisciplinary Training Program in Muscle Biology

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · 2024 · $290,339

## Abstract

This program provides interdisciplinary training in muscle biology for predoctoral students and postdoctoral
fellows. The program emphasizes the functional, structural and molecular properties of skeletal, cardiac and
smooth muscle, and how these properties are compromised in various disease states. Our 18 faculty members
come from 2 basic science departments (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Physiology) and 5 clinical
departments (Medicine, Orthopedics, Pathology, Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation, and Surgery) at the
University of Maryland School of Medicine. Affiliate faculty also come from the Departments of Mechanical
Engineering and Mathematics & Statistics at our sister campus, University of Maryland Baltimore County, and
from Morgan State University. Trainees are drawn from all of the participating departments and from our
interdepartmental PhD Programs. Indicative of the diversity of our faculty backgrounds, the training offered is
multifaceted ranging from the molecular determinants of muscle development through the cell biological aspects
of muscle cytoskeleton, membranes and matrix, to the biophysical analysis of individual muscle cell function and
the biomechanical evaluation of whole muscles to the effects of muscle disease at all these levels of
investigation. Our faculty is nationally and internationally recognized in the areas of Ca2+ control of muscle
function and membrane systems, muscle cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix, muscle development, growth
and plasticity, as well as muscle disease, injury and aging. Our students will receive training in these and in a
variety of related areas, with emphasis on the use of complementary state-of-the-art technologies to address
each question under examination. The major didactic aspect of our training is two one-semester interdisciplinary
courses on muscle biology, which are team-taught by the program faculty and have been well received by past
trainees, and a seminar series focusing on muscle related techniques, technologies and model systems.
Program activities comprise an annual on campus Mini-Retreat which includes trainee poster and oral
presentations and a renowned muscle researcher as Program visitor and Keynote Speaker, a semi-annual Wade
Memorial lectureship and lunch meetings for all trainees, as well as training in professional career development,
grant and manuscript writing, the principles of rigor and reproducibility, and the responsible conduct of research.
We will continue at our present level of 5 predoctoral and 5 postdoctoral trainees throughout the renewal period.
Entering predoctoral trainees will be required to have a strong background in biological sciences and praising
recommendation letters. Incoming postdoctoral trainees will have completed a solid PhD thesis, and also have
strong recommendation letters. Trainees from this program will be prepared to bring a wide range of approaches
to bear on answering fundamental questions in muscle biology and on the c...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10909058
- **Project number:** 5T32AR007592-29
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
- **Principal Investigator:** Aikaterini Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulos
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $290,339
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1996-05-01 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10909058

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10909058, Interdisciplinary Training Program in Muscle Biology (5T32AR007592-29). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10909058. Licensed CC0.

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