SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island has received a substantial National Institutes of Health T32 Predoctoral Training Grant – the university's first ever – to finance the launch of the state land-grant school’s new biomedical research training program.
URI announced Wednesday that the five-year, $1.9 million grant will fund predoctoral fellowships for its new T32 Transdisciplinary Training in Biomedical Science and Bioengineering program. URI says the new program is a collaborative effort across the university’s interdisciplinary neuroscience program and three colleges – College of Engineering, College of the Environment and Life Sciences and College of Health Sciences.
Jodi Camberg, URI professor and chairperson of cell and molecular biology; Kunal Mankodiya, a biomedical engineering professor; and psychology professor Lynda Stein will serve as the new program’s co-directors, URI says. Additionally, URI interdisciplinary neuroscience program Director Lisa Weyandt will also be involved in the program, the university says.
URI says the program, combined with additional investment from the university’s participating colleges and graduate school, will support 56 predoctoral training positions for a combined program value of $2.9 million.
URI says the NIH recently identified areas within biomedical research that are in critical shortage. Such fields in limited supply include those that require cross-disciplinary expertise, the university says, including bioengineering, computational biology, neuroscience and behavioral health sciences.
Stein says URI’s new program addresses these shortages by training doctoral students who can work across traditional academic boundaries, such as engineering, psychology and life sciences, to take on major human health challenges across society.
“Transdisciplinary training is not just valuable; it’s essential,” Stein said. “This program gives students a deep understanding of their own field, while also training them to collaborate across scientific cultures. It’s how we prepare the next generation of scientists to be flexible, collaborative, and impact-driven.”
URI says the inaugural cohort will include eight students across four doctoral programs supported through NIH fellowships and matching research assistantships. Program fellows will also mentor undergraduate researchers at URI in their labs, the university says, giving students more exposure to careers within interdisciplinary science and biomedical research.
“We’re grateful to all the faculty, administrators, and students who helped make it happen,” Camberg said. “We see this as a launchpad for even greater impact – for our students, for Rhode Island, and for human health.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
