# Minnesota Muscle Training Program

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2020 · $650,493

## Abstract

Project Summary
 A group of investigators seeks to renew support for the Minnesota Muscle Training Program (MMTP),
the NIH T32 interdisciplinary training program in muscle research at the University of Minnesota, for both
predoctoral and postdoctoral scientists. This program began in 2001 with a primary focus on basic muscle
research. Since that time, UMN has placed a high priority on the expansion of muscle research at all levels,
particularly translational research, aimed at the development of new therapeutic approaches. The institution
has recruited internationally prominent researchers in muscle disease and therapy and has established
new facilities that support this research. In the previous funding period, further developments have led us to
improve the quality of an already outstanding training program (which received a perfect score of 10 in the
previous renewal in 2011), as measured by the funding and training records of the faculty; and by the number
of qualified trainees, their publication record during training, and their research career success after training.
Program faculty are drawn from several departments, but their graduate students are enrolled in the
interdepartmental graduate programs in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics (BMBB) or
Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology and Genetics (MCDBG), which share a common admissions
program (Molecular Cellular and Structural Biology, MCSB) and first-year curriculum. The intellectual center of
the training program is an intensive one-semester course entitled “Muscle,” directed by the MMTP Director
and taught by the MMTP faculty, which emphasizes both basic and translational research. This course has
been expanded to accommodate an increasing emphasis on muscle disease and therapy. This is augmented
by a weekly Muscle Journal Club, a biweekly internal seminar program, a monthly external seminar including
international leaders in muscle research, and an annual MMTP Symposium in which all members of the
training faculty’s research groups actively present and discuss their research, featuring a keynote speaker who
is an internationally prominent muscle researcher. A significant strength of the MMTP is its leadership. The
Director (Thomas), who founded the program in 2001, is a world leader in the molecular biophysics of muscle,
has had NIAMS funding continuously since 1983 (including a MERIT Award), and has mentored more than 70
predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees, most of whom have gone on to productive independent careers in
muscle research. The Co-Director (Ervasti) is a world leader in the biochemistry of muscle disease, has had
NIAMS funding continuously since 1994, and is Research Director for the Muscular Dystrophy Center, which
is closely associated with MMTP. The University provides strong institutional support for MMTP, including a
generous offer of matching funds. The primary goal of MMTP is to help these exceptional predoctoral and
postdoctoral trainees to de...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9956589
- **Project number:** 5T32AR007612-19
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** David D Thomas
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $650,493
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2001-05-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9956589

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9956589, Minnesota Muscle Training Program (5T32AR007612-19). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9956589. Licensed CC0.

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