# Cellular and Molecular Basis of Disease Training Program

> **NIH NIH T32** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $867,701

## Abstract

This proposal requests continued funding for the Cellular and Molecular Basis of
Disease (CMBD) Training Program at Northwestern University. The CMBD program
supports comprehensive pre-doctoral graduate training in the life sciences, focusing on
the cellular and molecular mechanisms used in biological systems and targeted by
diseases impacting human health. The CMBD program has provided intradepartmental
and interdisciplinary training opportunities for Northwestern graduate students for the
past 34 years, and has taken a leadership role in fostering communication and
collaboration between researchers on the two campuses. CMBD trainees are selected
primarily from two integrated interdepartmental programs: the Interdepartmental
Biological Sciences Graduate Program on the Evanston campus and the Driskill
Graduate Training Program in the Life Sciences on the Chicago Medical School campus.
Second-year students are appointed to CMBD and they are typically supported for two
years. The Executive Committee selects trainees from all participating departments, and
equitably distributes the trainees among available preceptors. Great effort is made to
recruit students from underrepresented groups, and CMBD has appointed 24% of
trainees in the past five years from underrepresented groups. Institutional commitment to
CMBD comes from the Graduate School, which provides tuition supplements, and the
Feinberg School of Medicine and Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, which
contribute stipend supplements, administrative support, and operating funds. All trainees
and many preceptors participate in an annual two-day off-campus CMBD retreat, which
allows extensive interactions among students and faculty from many disciplines and
increases the cohesiveness of the trainee group. The Research-in-Progress meetings
occur monthly, when trainees present and discuss their research results and interact
with other trainees. Trainees organize and host a series of seminars that bring industrial
and academic scientists to campus for discussions with trainees. Additionally, the
trainees organize Symposia and Workshops, typically one per year. The workshops
provide hands-on training in current and emerging methods, whereas symposia
introduce trainees to experts in a given field. CMBD has taken a leadership role in
developing and providing two new courses in Rigor & Reproducibility for Northwestern
graduate students, including CMBD trainees.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9968278
- **Project number:** 5T32GM008061-38
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Richard W. CARTHEW
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $867,701
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1983-07-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9968278

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9968278, Cellular and Molecular Basis of Disease Training Program (5T32GM008061-38). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9968278. Licensed CC0.

---

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