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VU Interdisciplinary Centers Vanderbilt has established an extensive framework of Institutes to nurture interdisciplinary research. The Department of Chemistry is a key force within these centers of scholarship and research, and the return on this collaboration can be estimated by the increase in interdisciplinary grant awards to 40% of the Department’s external funding for 2009. It should come as no surprise that our exceptional students are the heart and soul of this vibrant community of researchers, reaching beyond their current knowledge base to be the first to decipher chemistry’s most complex questions and create new chemical technologies that will impact human health and quality of life. Chemistry-Biology Interface (CBI) Highlights of the training program include a chemical biology curriculum, elective courses for specialized training, an interactive seminar series in chemical biology, an annual research retreat and an in-depth laboratory research experience including lab rotations. Students are well-grounded in a core discipline and sufficiently well-trained in complementary fields to allow them to work effectively in a multi-disciplinary environment. Trainees obtain Ph.D. degrees working with research advisors in the Departments of Biochemistry, Chemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and Pharmacology. Center for Structural Biology (CSB) The philosophy of the CSB at Vanderbilt is to integrate the application of all techniques that can provide the atomic resolution structure of biomacromolecules. The merging of applications of the traditional high resolution structural biology disciplines, X-ray Crystallography, NMR Spectroscopy, and Computational Biology, along with electron microscopy and fluorescence and EPR spectroscopy, is especially unique. This strategy is being increasingly recognized as the necessary approach to solve fundamental structural problems in medicine and biology. Establishing an environment that provides to all available tools provides Vanderbilt investigators with key competitive advantages. This philosophy is being successfully applied in exciting ways in collaborations with investigators from a range of Departments in both the College of Arts and Science and The School of Medicine. Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology (VICB)The VICB is a trans-institutional initiative between the College of Arts and Science and the School of Medicine. The Institute's mission is to provide research and training in the application of chemical approaches to the solution of important biomedical problems. Our members represent a range of research interests and technologies with particular strengths in analytical methodology and molecular imaging, cellular responses to chemical stress, drug discovery, enzyme and receptor chemistry, proteomics, structural biology, and chemical synthesis. The VICB provides a fertile ground for graduate education. Four parallel tracks exist for training students in VICB laboratories: the Chemistry Department Graduate Program, the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, the Chemical and Physical Biology Graduate Program, and the Medical Scientist Training Program. Each of these programs provides a different environment for graduate training suited to the needs and interests of the individual student. An active seminar program supplements formal classroom training. The VICB provides educational opportunities and salary supplements to outstanding applicants. All applicants to each of the three graduate programs are considered equally for these awards so a separate application is not necessary. Center in Molecular Toxicology The Vanderbilt University Center in Molecular Toxicology is a multidisciplinary program that provides a cohesive infrastructure for enhancing the research efforts of affiliated faculty members and their laboratories. The Center receives support from various granting agencies, as well as institutional support from the School of Medicine. The Center exists to provide support for research, training, and core activities and is made up of individuals representing a number of different departments, divisions, and programs within the university. Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering(VINSE) Nanoscience and nanotechnology are based on the ability to synthesize, organize, characterize, and manipulate matter systematically at the nanoscale, creating uniquely functional materials which can be inorganic, organic or biological, or a hybrid of these. Consequently, nanoscience and nanotechnology pose formidable challenges that cut across traditionally distinct disciplines. The Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (VINSE) brings together science and engineering faculty devoted to the creation and use of solids on the nanoscale. VINSE provides the underpinnings of the interdisciplinary structure for this field. This occurs through collaborations, central experimental facilities and through various communication activities such as monthly colloquia, a Nanonews letter and a yearly Nanoday. Educational out-reach is primarily associated with the NSF funded Vanderbilt-Fisk IGERT program in the Nanosciences and the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Materials Science and through individual departmental activities associated with VINSE connected faculty. Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education (VIIBRE) VIIBRE, the Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education, was created in 2001 with a $5 million, five-year grant from the Vanderbilt Academic Venture Capital Fund to foster and enhance interdisciplinary research in the biophysical sciences and bioengineering at Vanderbilt, integrated with a strong focus on undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral education. Taking advantage of Vanderbilt's existing strengths in biology, physics, medicine, engineering, and education, VIIBRE has created on-campus collaborations in research areas such as cellular biosensors for cancer research, chemical and biological warfare defense and infectious disease detection, single- and multi-cellular instrumentation and control, biomedical imaging, biological applications of nanosystems, cellular/tissue bioengineering and biotechnology, and bioengineering education technologies. VIIBRE's mission is to invent the tools and develop the skills that are required to understand biological systems across spatiotemporal scales. VIIBRE's research and educational programs focus on an integrated multidisciplinary approach to microscale engineering and instrumentation for dynamic control and analysis of biological systems, i.e., instrumenting and controlling the single cell and small cell populations.
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Vanderbilt University Department of Chemistry |
