Training Program

NIEHS Training Grants in Toxicology

Oregon State University is home to two NIEHS training grants in toxicology, a T32 grant for graduate and postgraduate training and a T35 grant for minority undergraduate training. The T32 grant, “Mode Of Action Of Environmental Chemicals”, is currently in its 24th year of continuous funding. This grant provides support for ten predoctoral and two postdoctoral trainees. Almost 50% of the predoctoral and over 25% of the postdoctoral trainees were in laboratories of past or present MFBSC Investigators. Dr. Williams has been the PI of this grant since 1994. Predoctoral trainees receive intensive coursework in advanced biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology and toxicology. Predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees conduct their research in the laboratory, and under of the direction of, one of twenty-four scientists, five of which are MFBSC Investigators. In addition to the MFBSC, training grant faculty are drawn from the Environmental Health Sciences Center, The Linus Pauling Institute and the NIEHS Superfund at the Oregon Health and Sciences University. All of the faculty are externally funded to conduct research in toxicology and environmental health.

The majority of predoctoral trainees are selected as the top candidates from the applicant pool to the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, with some trainees also recruited from the graduate pool in other programs to which the faculty have affiliations (Biochemistry/Biophysics, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Chemistry, Zoology, Pharmacy and the Integrated Biomedical Sciences Program at the Oregon Health Sciences University). Predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees are recruited nationally through advertisements in venues such as Science, by the Society of Toxicology (SOT) recruiting programs and through the use of mailings and web-based materials. Students complete a majority of their core coursework in the first year while doing laboratory rotations. Trainees are required to participate in the Toxicology Seminar series and Journal Club and are encouraged to attend seminars sponsored by the two Oregon State University NIEHS Centers and the Linus Pauling Institute as well as seminars sponsored by individual departments at OSU and the Oregon Health and Sciences University.

Trainees are required to enroll in “Ethics and Standards of Conduct for Toxicologists”. This one-hour credit course is taught in every other spring term. Topics covered in this course include use of animals, human subjects, scientific and scholarly misconduct, confidentiality, mentor-student relationships, etc. Dr. Williams coordinates the course and instructors include Dr. Courtney Campbell, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Program in Ethics, the IRB Chair, the IACUC Chair and the Vice-Provost for Research. Following these lecture presentations, the students present discussions of actual cases. In addition to this formal course, Oregon State University now offers training in The Responsible Conduct of Research. Training modules are available for human tissues/cells/subjects, animal use, biosafety, radiation safety and scientific misconduct.

The T32 training grant continues to enjoy strong institutional support. As an example, scholarships totaling more than $25,000 are provided from the Graduate School to cover the portion of tuition not provided by the grant.

Other Training Programs

Oregon State University is also the home of an NIEHS T35 training grant for minority undergraduates. In addition, the College of Agriculture administers the BioResource Research (BRR) Program in which a number of MFBSC faculty participate in the Toxicology option. The BRR is an Honors program requiring students to complete a defined curriculum in their specialty and conduct, write and defend a research thesis with an identified faculty member. Examples of projects by undergraduates working with MFBSC faculty over the last funding period include “In vitro mechanisms of chlorophyllin antimutagenesis against dibenzo(a,l)pyrene”, “Indole-3-carbinol and related compounds effects on biochemical parameters with respect to trout tumorigenesis”, “Detecting apoptosis in carcinogen exposed trout livers”.