Immunology & Molecular Pathogenesis Training Program

The Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis Training Program (IMPTP) is an NIH-NIAID sponsored (T32) training program. Funded since 1996, the IMPTP supports the training of both pre- and postdoctoral students working at the Feinberg School of Medicine. Predoctoral training is done in conjunction with the Driskill Graduate Program. The training program, unique among the training programs at Northwestern, stresses the basic mechanisms and interactive nature of immunology, microbiology and pathogenesis and the collaboration of colleagues. The faculty preceptors are 32 highly productive scientists from nine departments in the medical school, including Microbiology-Immunology, Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, Cell & Developmental Biology, Dermatology, Medicine, Pathology, Pediatrics, Pharmacology and Urology. Each year, four predoctoral and two postdoctoral students are appointed to the IMPTP grant. Predoctoral students are appointed for a two-year period at the end of the second year of graduate studies after they have completed their coursework and qualifying exams and have identified a research adviser, while postdoctoral candidates are appointed at the outset of their training for a one-year period while they apply for independent funding.