Specialized Training Programs

Co-directed by Drs. Jada Lewis and Jen Bizon, this NIA-funded program supports 4-6 predoctoral students a year. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) affects over 5 million people in the U.S., inducing profound memory decline, behavioral and language problems. Trainees appointed in the ADRD T32 program will receive two years of support to engage in a specialized training program focused on gaining the knowledge and support necessary to tackle the complexities presented by AD and related neurodegenerative diseases.

Led by Dr. Gordon S. Mitchell, the goal of the BREATHE Training Program is to develop a unique cohort of researchers with strong foundations in basic research on respiratory neuromuscular biology, and a strong appreciation for the needs/realities of translational research in our attempts to develop treatments for impaired breathing and airway defense. Current research focuses on fundamental mechanisms of spinal respiratory motor plasticity induced by intermittent hypoxia, and attempts to harness that plasticity to treat clinical disorders that compromise breathing and non-respiratory limb movements, such as spinal injury and ALS.

Co-directed by Dr. Dawn Bowers & Dr. David Vaillancourt, NINDS supports 6 PhD training slots per year. Movement is core to who we are as humans. Diseases that affect movement strip away our ability to live effectively, which can lead to problems with processing our emotions and can have deleterious effects on how we think. The goal of this program is to help train a future generation of independent investigators with programs of research in movement disorders that focus on translational research.

Led by Dr. Steve Munger, the Training Program in Chemosensory Science (TCPS) is an NIH-supported pre-doctoral training program that prepares trainees for careers focused on the science of smell, taste and flavor in academia, industry and the public sector. Graduate students in five UF doctoral programs across three different UF Colleges (medicine, agriculture, and arts and sciences) are eligible to train with TPCS faculty.

The CTSI TL1 Predoctoral Training Program provides predoctoral trainees with the skills required to develop a career in multidisciplinary clinical and translational research. The program uses a team-science approach and provides mentoring and didactic training for predoctoral students performing clinical and/or translational research in health-related fields at UF.

The IMPART Program provides research training for postdoctoral fellows interested in pain and aging research. IMPART is an NIA-funded postdoctoral training program and represents a partnership between the UF Pain Research & Intervention Center of Excellence (PRICE) and the UF Institute on Aging (IOA).

Co-directed by Drs. Michael Marsiske and Adam Woods, this NIA-funded program supports four predoctoral students a year. Cognitive decline associated with normal aging, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease can be devastating for older adults and their families. Trainees appointed to this T32 receive two years of support and engage in a specialized training program focused on methods to assess treatments that prevent or slow cognitive decline in aging.

Led by Dr. Clay Smith, supports five PhD trainees with the aim of producing independent investigators capable of sustaining productive research programs in the vision sciences. The program is designed for training students in the areas of molecular/cellular biology, genetics, biochemistry, and immunology with particular focus on training in vision research.