PULLMAN, Wash. – Molecular biologist Margaret Black and her colleagues in Washington State University’s NIH Biotechnology Training Program have been awarded $2.2 million over the next five years to continue training graduate students in biotechnology.
The funding, which brings the total grant award to WSU for this program since its inception to more than $8.5 million, recognizes the university’s leadership in biotechnology research and training. WSU was one of the inaugural universities selected for biotechnology training funding by the National Institutes of Health in 1989 and, after an unprecedented 25 years of continuous support, will continue the program through 2019.
“The NIH Biotechnology Training Program at WSU is one of the first NIH sponsored programs focused on training graduate student to prepare them for careers in all areas of biotechnology,” said Black, director of the NIH Biotechnology Training Program and professor in the School of Molecular Biosciences.
Students in the program come from five colleges in the areas of chemical engineering, chemistry, molecular biosciences, molecular plant sciences, pharmacology and veterinary microbiology & pathology. They receive advanced disciplinary-specific training in biochemistry and molecular biology, gGenetics and cell biology, and microbiology.
Over the past 25 years, 142 trainees have participated and 36 are working toward their doctoral degrees.
Contact:
Margaret Black, WSU School of Molecular Biosciences, 509-335-6265, blackm@vetmed.wsu.edu