The Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Immunological Mechanisms of Disease Training Program (IMDTP) will fill a much-needed gap in the training of basic immunologic mechanisms of human disease. The clinical translation of basic science immunology to benefit human health now requires the development of scientists with appreciation of both inflammation and the tissues in which it occurs. The primary focus of the IMDTP will be to provide pre- and postdoctoral trainees with the expertise necessary to make novel discoveries in basic immunology and to translate these discoveries to human disease. The IMDTP will provide trainees a skill set to address how the immune system is regulated and functions in complex tissues in human disease by integrating basic immunology and principles of pathology with a particular emphasis on chronic, inflammatory diseases, and cancer.
A long-term goal of the IMDTP will be to not only train the next generation of research scientists in basic immunology, but to emphasize the importance of using acquired knowledge as a translational platform on which to develop new therapies and interventions with a high regard for responsible conduct of research and reproducibility.
