Predoctoral Training Program in Quantitative Mechanobiology - Project Summary This application seeks continued support for an Interdisciplinary Predoctoral Training Program in Quantitative Mechanobiology at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). Established in 2021 as the first and only T32 at UCSB, the Training Program in Quantitative Mechanobiology has served as a flagship initiative in cross- disciplinary predoctoral training that leverages a connected mechanobiology research community across engineering and the sciences. The T32 has augmented the research experience of T32 Trainees via formal and informal peer-to-peer interactions including science journal clubs, equity and inclusion book clubs, cross- lab training experiences, writing workshops, peer presentation and writing feedback sessions, topical research seminars, courses, and an annual symposium. The Program has also benefitted non-affiliated trainees in the labs of our mechanobiology mentors as we invite their participation in journal clubs, seminars and the annual symposium. The Program provides unique cross-training in multi-scale mechanobiology, i.e., relationships between physical forces and biological structure and function, to produce a new cadre of quantitative bioscientists and bioengineers who will develop quantitative solutions to biology’s most challenging problems. Each year, Mechanobiology Trainees are recruited concurrent with graduate admissions processes. Trainees in the Program have prior training in quantitative sciences or engineering and are seeking multi-disciplinary cross-training to develop and apply quantitative approaches to problems in mechanobiology. To provide optimal interdisciplinary mentorship and research training experiences, each predoctoral Trainee is assigned a faculty mentor from the Program with complementary expertise to the core interest of the Trainee, e.g., quantitative, experimental, and/or analytical approaches bridging science and engineering with mechanobiology questions related to human health. Trainees benefit from formalized interactions with the diverse community of faculty and peers, as well as resources associated with UCSB’s College of Engineering and the Division of Math, Life, and Physical Sciences in the College of Letters and Science. Key components of the Program include didactic and hands-on training in methods and analytical techniques through our a Mechanobiology course, quarterly “open-lab” sessions, monthly seminars with peers and Faculty Mentors, career development activities, and an annual symposium uniting the entire UCSB mechanobiology community. They also participate in the Responsible Conduct of Research course that was developed for the T32 and includes discussions of case studies with Faculty Mentors. Predoctoral researchers who complete the proposed Program will be qualified to develop and lead research programs in the field of mechanobiology in a range of careers and institutions nationally and internationally. They are expected to compete successfully for funding and career paths, e.g., for NIH F31/F32 and eventually K funding, for faculty positions, or as leaders of interdisciplinary bioscience research in industry, national labs, or non-profit research institutes.
