Program Description
The UNC-Duke Immunotherapy Training Program at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Duke University is funded by a National Cancer Institute T32 training grant. The program trains postdoctoral fellows in pre-clinical and/or clinical research focusing on tumor immunotherapy and/or stem cell transplantation immunology. All UNC Lineberger and Duke postdoctoral researchers and clinicians interested in this area are eligible to apply. External candidates may also apply.
Program Terms
The UNC-Duke Immunotherapy Training Program supports up to six MD, MD/PhD and PhD trainees per year at UNC and Duke. Trainees are able to select from 23 faculty mentors with outstanding qualifications in vaccine design and vector generation, adoptive cellular therapy, novel approaches to understand the function of checkpoint inhibitors, the role of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and enhancing our understanding of the biology of immune cells in stem cell transplantation. Training support lasts for a maximum of two years with support in the second year contingent upon progress made in the first year of support.
The program offers a novel mechanism for training with an emphasis on didactic coursework in statistical design, bioinformatics and proteomics, and seminar courses. Importantly, all trainees take these courses together, which allows access to trainees of each institution to world-class instructors from both institutions. All trainees will participate in Immunotherapy Working Groups, which are translational teams that assist in the development of novel immunotherapies, in understanding how to generate products in a cGMP-compliant manner and to ensuring compliance with government agencies for the generation of products under an individual or institutional IND.
Eligibility
Postdoctoral candidates who have already been accepted into a research laboratory or clinical fellowship program at UNC or Duke are eligible to join the program after completion of at least one year of postdoctoral training. All individuals who are supported must be a citizen, non-citizen national of the United States, or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time of the appointment.
Highly qualified external candidates may be invited for an in-person interview.
The UNC-Duke Immunotherapy Training Program has a strong commitment to diversity. Women and minorities are highly encouraged to apply.
Criteria
Applicants will be selected based on the following criteria:
- Academic qualifications and previous research experience
- Desire to do clinical or translational immune-based transplant/stem cell biomedical research
- Mentor support and funding
Review
Review will be conducted by the Steering Committee with applications being evaluated within 1-3 months of acceptance.
Application
Proposals must include:
- Cover Letter outlining your past research experience, future goals and expectations of the program
- Biosketch in NIH format
- Description of your research project and how it relates to tumor or transplant immunology (1-2 pages) plus references
- Mentor Biosketch (selected T32 mentor)
- Letters of Recommendation (3) from academic, research or clinical references who have known you for at least 12 months. (current lab and selected T32 mentor)
For any questions, please contact: Kira Oshima