NIH has awarded the Center for Biotechnology & Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS) at RPI a five-year grant for training doctoral students in biomolecular science and engineering. The “Biomolecular Science and Engineering Training Program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute” is a $2.1M award dedicated to the education of a broad pool of doctoral students spanning the life sciences and engineering to address the nation’s biomedical research agenda. The program’s mission is to provide an integrated and multidisciplinary platform to train doctoral students at the interface of biology, chemistry and engineering, focusing on the quantitative linkages that define this interface and prepare trainees for careers in biotechnology. Biomolecular science and engineering operates at the subcellular level, yet with applications over a wide range of length, volume, and time scales. For this reason, expanded training programs are needed to expose incoming generations of students to this multidisciplinary field through the direct interaction of engineers and life scientists.
The Biomolecular Science and Engineering Training Program at RPI has a significant history as it was first established in 2004 and it has been running for over 20 years since. This new award builds upon this extensive history and ensures that the program will continue for at last another five years. Juergen Hahn, Principal Investigator of the grant, professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Director of the Center for Biotechnology & Interdisciplinary Studies, states that “This training program is one of the cornerstones of the biotech center as it focuses on research at the interface of the different disciplines represent in the center”. He will be leading the training program together with Dr. Blanca Barquera, a professor of Biological Sciences and also a Principal Investigator of this grant.
About CBIS: The mission of CBIS is to conduct research that addresses the world’s most pressing challenges in human health, support RPI by serving as the central resource with world-class infrastructure for Institute-wide research, and to expand and broaden the scope of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research in biotechnology to further enhance the ability of RPI and its schools to make a global impact on research, education, and society. Over the last 20 years, CBIS faculty have published over 3,600 peer-reviewed publications with over 60,000 citations, trained and graduated over 300 Ph.D. students, and have received an aggregate of $270 million in federal, state, foundation and industry funding.
