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Program Overview

The Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia Training Program at UIC (ADRD-TP) is designed to be interdisciplinary, drawing on institutional expertise in four themes: Basic Biology, Drug Discovery and Development Biophysics Bioinformatics and Data Science, and Clinical and Translational Research:

Figure 1. Interdisciplinary nature of the ADRD-TP. The ADRD-TP comprises 4 themes. Faculty preceptors are drawn from these themes. Those whose research is at the interface of 2 themes or more appear in overlap areas. The ADRP-TP will utilize interactions between these disciplines and the expertise within them to train students in an integrative environment.

The aim of the ADRD-TP is to address the imperative need to support the training of exceptionally talented cohort of trainees engaged in interdisciplinary research, to enhance the understanding of the heterogeneity and multifactorial etiology of ADRD, and to bridge the current gaps in knowledge between basic research, drug development and therapy.

The overarching goals of the ADRD-TP at UIC are:

  1. To attract outstanding graduate students from a diverse range of disciplines, including computer science, bioengineering and bioinformatics, neuroscience, medicinal chemistry and drug discovery, who have interest in ADRD.
  2. Provide students with rigorous, comprehensive knowledge in the fundamental science of ADRD.
  3. Train students in a multidisciplinary, holistic approach, to promote integrative, divergent thinking.
  4. To facilitate graduate training based on interaction between the 4 disciplinary themes of this program. Create an environment that supports ethical awareness and appreciation for diversity.
  5. Build a community of scientists and mentors seeking new approaches and collaborations dedicated to a cure for Alzheimer’s disease by leveraging an intellectually diverse interdisciplinary community.

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