# Molecular Microbiology Training Grant

> **NIH NIH T32** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $309,807

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW), one of the premier academic medical
centers in the world, requests continued support for a graduate and post-graduate Molecular Microbiology
Training Program (MMTP) that has existed for 20 years. This MMTP supports five predoctoral students and
two postdoctoral fellows for two-year training periods each. A particularly attractive feature of this highly
successful training program has been its departure from conventional "program-" or "departmental-based"
training to an interdisciplinary program that maintains a strong microbiology orientation while, at the same time,
broadens the scope of the training mission to include many other aspects of molecular and cell biology. The
highly diverse backgrounds of the 28 trainers, comprised of a core group of highly accomplished established
investigators and an expanding, impressive new faculty, embody interdisciplinary research programs bound by
the common theme of molecular and cellular microbiology. The training faculty emanate from 10 different
departments/centers (Microbiology, Immunology, Physiology, Internal Medicine/Infectious Diseases,
Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Pediatrics).
The MMTP serves as a primary focus for formal interactions among this overlapping group of talented trainers
who have strong records of accomplishment in research and training. Our goal is to train students and fellows
for research careers in the general areas of the molecular basis of microbial pathogenesis, cellular
microbiology, host defense mechanisms, vaccine development, regulation of virulence expression, pathogen
adaptation, drug development, structural biology, and many other related areas. The research interests of the
majority of the faculty include bacterial and viral pathogenesis, microbial toxins, quorum sensing, innate and
adaptive immune mechanisms, antimicrobial drug design, autophagy, oncogenesis, RNA metabolism, bacterial
type III secretion systems, vaccine development, translational science, microbial physiology, viral evolution,
and structural biology (as it pertains to microbial pathogenesis). There is a strong emphasis on molecular
mechanisms, molecular biology, and the application of the most contemporary methods in molecular
technologies (e.g., structural biology, biochemistry, and molecular biophysics), all of which provide the thread
that unites and integrates the diverse research areas. Trainees who complete this program are expected to be
able to apply state-of-the-art molecular approaches towards important problems in the microbiological sciences
and for the improvement of preventive and/or therapeutic intervention strategies for infectious diseases. There
is solid evidence of major successes for this training program over the past funding interval.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9948540
- **Project number:** 5T32AI007520-22
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Julie K Pfeiffer
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $309,807
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-09-30 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9948540

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9948540, Molecular Microbiology Training Grant (5T32AI007520-22). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9948540. Licensed CC0.

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