# The Graduate Program in Tropical Infectious Diseases

> **NIH NIH T32** · HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · 2024 · $322,863

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
This proposal is the renewal of an initiative for predoctoral training in Tropical Infectious Diseases, now called
The Graduate Program in Tropical Infectious Diseases (GPiTID) and requests funding for six trainees for five
years. Since its start in 2001, this program has trained over 80 graduate students, including 48 students
appointed to this T32. The goal of this training grant is two-fold: to train the next generation of global health
leaders and to train students to advance scientific achievements toward the control of infectious diseases. The
GPiTID is distinct in many aspects – the training is embedded in a school of public health but focuses on
fundamental scientific discovery using cutting edge approaches of genomics, cell biology, immunology,
population biology and gene editing coupled with the epidemiology of diseases in their natural setting to address
major infections that pose a threat to public health both in the US and abroad. There is a focus on fundamental
scientific training but in the context of the diseases as holistic problems and with an emphasis on fundamental
discoveries that could lead to new interventions including drug, vaccine, and insecticide development. The
Principal Investigators of the program are Dr. Dyann Wirth, Richard Pearson Strong Professor, Department of
Immunology and Infectious Diseases (IID) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan) and
Institute Member at the Broad Institute; Dr. Phyllis Kanki, Lasker Professor in the Harvard Chan IID Department;
and Dr. Sarah Fortune, Chair and Professor of the Harvard Chan IID Department. In 2026, Dr. Flaminia
Catteruccia – Professor in the Harvard Chan IID Department and HHMI Investigator – will be appointed as co-
PI in place of Professor Wirth. The training program is housed in the Harvard Chan IID Department, centrally
located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, MA, and draws additional training faculty from across Harvard
University. GPiTID students complete fundamental biology and computational training coursework as well as
courses that integrate biology and public health content; the public health courses are taken with students from
other Harvard Chan academic programs that draw students from around the world, including countries where
infectious diseases remain a major health threat. The GPiTID also offers students opportunities at the interface
of laboratory science and translational applications through two special programs, one an opportunity to conduct
part of their thesis work in a disease endemic setting and second a Pathogen Therapeutic Development and
Policy Implementation Program. Our graduates show the success of this program: half are impacting global
health through fundamental infectious diseases research in academia as tenure-track faculty, staff scientists, or
further training as postdoctoral fellows, while the other half are applying their scientific training in leadership roles
in industry, global health-f...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10933714
- **Project number:** 2T32AI049928-21
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** SARAH FORTUNE
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $322,863
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2001-07-01 → 2029-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10933714

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10933714, The Graduate Program in Tropical Infectious Diseases (2T32AI049928-21). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10933714. Licensed CC0.

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