# Training Program in Quantitative Integrative Biology

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2020 · $254,350

## Abstract

Project Summary
The overall goal of the pre-doctoral training program in Quantitative Integrative Biology (QIB) at University of California,
San Diego (UCSD) is to bring together faculty with broad and complementary research expertise to train graduate
students to investigate current questions in systems physiology. The collective behavior exhibited by groups of cells in
developing, regenerating and homeostatic tissues and organs is substantially more than the sum of its parts, and requires
continuous multi-level collaborations between cells, tissues, and organs. To understand the nature and mechanisms
underlying such collaborations, the QIB program includes a diverse collection of training faculty who use a variety of
quantitative tools and approaches to address questions related to organismal development and regeneration, tissue and
organ physiology, and the basis of these phenomena in cell-cell communication, interactions and collective cell behaviors.
Recognizing that cells and tissues of an organism do not live in isolation, but in a symbiotic state with complex microbial
communities affecting the health of the host, QIB also includes a group of faculty with expertise in the human
microbiome, who are developing approaches to predict and modulate microbiome composition, and engineer its behavior
to affect disease progression. Altogether, the QIB program comprise of 27 quantitatively-oriented faculty from the UCSD
Division of Biology, Division of Physical Sciences, and from the Medical School and Pharmacy School, all located in
close proximity to each other on the UCSD campus. This group of faculty boasts of spectacular research accomplishments,
bringing almost $29M annually in total research funding.
The central element of the QIB program is to train students to develop experimental tools and integrate modern theoretical
methods into their research in quantitative physiology. This program is a component of a broader campus wide
Quantitative Biology (qBio) initiative, which has received substantial institutional support, including 2,000 sq. ft. of
dedicated space and $1M investment in unique equipment for a modern teaching lab dubbed the qBio “hacker lab”, aimed
to train students not only to work with modern tools and methodology for life science studies, but to endow them with the
ability and mind-set to modify existing tools and adapt them to specific research projects. This proposal aims to train 6
pre-doctoral students each year, with 2 additional matching slots with funds from the Office of Graduate Studies and the
Executive Vice Chancellor, starting in their second year of graduate studies for a 12-month period. The proposal
establishes a special curriculum for students from one of four departments/programs: Department of Physics, Department
of Chemistry & Biochemistry (both in the Division of Physical Sciences), Division of Biological Sciences, and the
Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences. The curriculum includes multiple courses in ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9965976
- **Project number:** 5T32GM127235-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** TERENCE HWA
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $254,350
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-07-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9965976

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9965976, Training Program in Quantitative Integrative Biology (5T32GM127235-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9965976. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*