February 8, 2007
UW launches new Molecular Medicine Training Program
Roberta Wilkes
Department of Medicine
Many engaged in the fundamental study of human biology would like their work applied to improving health and advancing the understanding and treatment of disease. However, connections between highly sophisticated basic sciences and equally sophisticated and rigorously regulated clinical investigation can be difficult to establish. The new School of Medicine Molecular Medicine Training Program (MMTP), approved in 2005, is designed to provide that link, and Department of Medicine faculty are closely involved in the effort.
It originated with an interdisciplinary group of faculty, led by Nancy Maizels (Immunology), who sought to facilitate dialogue between basic and clinically oriented investigators.
They conceived a program where both would collaborate to transmit the excitement of biomedical, translational research and thereby enrich the training of Ph.D. scientists. Others developing the program include Department of Medicine Associate Chair Henry Rosen, Peter Byers (Medical Genetics), Stanley McKnight (Pharmacology), Deirdre Meldrum (Bioengineering), Ray Monnat (Pathology), and Henk Roelink (Biological Structure).
The program offers a unique combination of coursework, participation in clinics, and dual mentorship by both basic scientists and clinically oriented investigators. Rosen and Monnat teach a case-based course, Molecular Medicine, that highlights fundamental biological insights that have translated to improved diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Other requirements include biostatistics and either the Molecular Basis of Disease course or a clinical rotation in medical genetics.
The MMTP is currently a certificate program linked to established doctoral training in the basic sciences. It is supported by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and by School of Medicine funds and is open to eligible students who entered in the fall of 2003 and thereafter.
A free-standing, Ph.D.-granting program in molecular medicine is under consideration. For more information about the Molecular Medicine Training Program visit http://depts.washington.edu/molmed/index.html.
