NIH T32 Training Grant

Molecular Immunology and Tumor Biology (NIH T32)

This postdoctoral research program is to train a select group of young physicians (MD or MD-PhD), who have completed a core residency program in pathology, in the fundamentals of basic research in cancer biology and immunology. We also attract and accept outstanding trainees with other academic backgrounds (e.g., PhD relevant to experimental pathology or MD with training in specialties other than pathology).

Pathology, like other medical specialties, is becoming increasingly molecular and thus provides an ideal interface between clinical and basic science in which questions related to the biology of any human disease can be addressed. This is reflected clinically by the marked growth in clinical molecular diagnostics and the rapid development of Molecular Genetic Pathology fellowship programs (including one based at Harvard Medical School involving Mass General Pathology as a major site).

Requirements

Trainees will be selected primarily from residents in our pathology residency program who have completed two or three years of postdoctoral training and have demonstrated a keen interest in research. In addition, superior candidates with a PhD and/or an MD degree will be selected from outside our pathology program. The criteria for admission to the program are few but stringent: (1) a commitment on the part of the potential trainee to a career in research and teaching and (2) our estimate that the candidate has outstanding potential for success in such a career. A commitment to a period of two to three years of training is also required.

Curriculum

We provide a rich and diverse program that exposes individuals to a range of disciplines and state of the art techniques. Given the close relationship between clinical pathology and cancer diagnosis, the majority of our research-oriented pathology residents have been interested in pursuing research areas that have a connection with cancer biology. Within this environment the trainee receives rigorous and practical research training in one discipline by pursuing a specific research project in depth. We are interested in developing investigators who are able to bridge the basic and the clinical sciences. Our research training emphasizes cancer biology and immunology, with a decided emphasis on cancer biology, and includes the use of a variety of molecular techniques to detect, diagnose and treat cancer. The goal is to produce outstanding independent investigators capable of addressing fundamental questions that relate to human disease.

Levels of training: Postdoctoral for MDs and/or PhDs

Length of training: two to three years

Application deadline: Rolling admission

Application components: CV and three letters of recommendation

Stipend: A stipend and supplies and travel expenses are provided.

David Langenau, PhD  
Associate Chief of Pathology
Research and Director of Molecular Pathology 
Massachusetts General Hospital 
149 13th Street, 6th Floor 
Charlestown, MA 02129

Email: dlangenau@mgh.harvard.edu