Principal investigator X.J. Meng, University Distinguished Professor of Molecular Virology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology (DBSP), and co-PI Ansar Ahmed, DBSP professor of immunology and associate dean of Research and Graduate Studies, have been awarded a T32 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to train veterinarians to pursue biomedical research.

TITLE
Animal Model Research for Veterinarians (AMRV)

FUNDING AGENCY
NIH T32

TOTAL AWARD
$1,399,631
Direct: $1,322,366
Indirect: $77,265

DURATION OF AWARD
5 years

KEY FACULTY PERSONNEL
PI: X.J. Meng
Co-PI: S.A. Ahmed
Faculty Mentors/Committee Members: Kathy Alexander, Irving Coy Allen, Andrea Bertke, Michele Borgarelli, Clayton Caswell, John Chappell, Jessica Crawford, Marion Ehrich, Shannon Farris, Michael Fox, Julia Gohlke, Robert Gourdie, Kiho Lee, Margie Lee, Caroline Leeth, Liwu Li, Xin Luo, Konark Mukherjee, Yuchin Albert Pan, Steven Poelzing, John Rossmeisl, E. Smith, Sharon Swanger, Michelle Theus, Hehuang Xie, Lijuan Yuan , and Chenming Zhang.
Learn more about the program's faculty mentors and committee members →

SIGNFICANCE
The Animal Model Research for Veterinarians (AMRV) program will train veterinarians to become world-class researchers and pursue a research-related career after training. By taking advantage of the research strengths of faculty mentors at Virginia Tech, the AMRV program will train veterinarians in areas including animal models of immunology and inflammation, infectious diseases, neuroscience, and other areas. Mentors will be selected based on their commitment to student training, their cutting-edge research programs, and their ability to secure NIH and other major federal funding. Our trainees will be exposed to cutting-edge interdisciplinary collaborations of our faculty with researchers at six different colleges (Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, College of Engineering, College of Science, College of Natural Resources and Environment, and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences). All aspects of the training are focused on preparing trainees to become independent biomedical researchers mostly in academia, but in industry and federal government, as well. Thus, this NIH-funded T32 AMRV program will enable us to help train the next generation of veterinary biomedical leaders in academia, federal government, and industry.