Several innovative aspects of this training program include:
- Conduct environmental research at multiple levels of analysis, using a range of field assessments, air sampling and models
- Use multidisciplinary approaches, including physiological, biochemical, molecular and genetic analyses, to address complex problems of environmental and public health importance
- Semester-long didactic courses in “Toxicology” and “Inhalation & Aerosol Sciences”
- Participate in the “Paracelsus Society” Colloquium
- Experience in community engagement
The training program draws on and coordinates the strengths and resources in
Inhalation Toxicology that exists at WVU and NIOSH. The advantages of this approach are:
- It provides an outstanding array of research training opportunities from
mechanistically oriented research using animal models to analyze inhalation exposures to clinical and translational systems health outcomes; - It creates a natural vehicle for providing the rigorous biomedical and quantitative training that is needed for complex assessments of the interactions of inhalation exposures and systemic targeting and to understand their underlying mechanisms.
- It provides a rich elective curriculum for trainees.
- It favors projects that cross disciplines, a necessity for the highly collaborative research environment in which trainees will find themselves.
- It fosters the development of leadership skills needed in multidisciplinary research projects involving individuals from different disciplines.
