Program offers three fellowships to PhD students researching diseases of marine organisms

The University of Rhode Island has been awarded funding to launch a Diseases of Marine Organisms Program that will offer a stipend and other benefits to three PhD students.

The unique program, scheduled to go through 2012, will be interdepartmental and will involve experts in genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics to identify the molecular and ecological mechanisms of disease in the marine environment.

Among the issues to be addressed are the complex scientific, social and economic issues related to the management of infectious diseases in the rapidly growing aquaculture industry.

Successful candidates will be paid a $24,000 stipend and will get free tuition and health insurance.

The program is funded by USDA through its Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship Grants Program, by the RI Agricultural Experiment Station and RI Sea Grant.

Key elements in the program are:

• An integrative, multidisciplinary, collaborative research training approach that emphasizes the application of ecology and evolution.
• Strategies to develop a solid career foundation through networking, enhanced mentoring and an international experience.
• Opportunities to interact with fellows in programs with emphasis in management of the coastal environment and policy, as well as with industry and governmental partners and other stakeholders.
• An appreciation for diversity and a commitment to building a multicultural environment.

Applications are due April 15. For more information about the program contact Dr. Marta Gomez-Chiarri at gomezchi@uri.edu.

Gomez-Chiarri is chair of the program’s core committee which also consists of Dr. Bethany Jenkins, Cell and Molecular Biology; Dr. David R Rowley, Pharmacy, and Dr. Tatiana Rynearson, Graduate School of Oceanography.

Advisors for the program include Dr. Graham Forrester, Natural Resources Science; Dr. Mercedes A. Rivero Hudec, Chemical Engineering; Dr. David Nelson, Cell and Molecular Biology; and Dr. Rainer Lohmann and Dr. David Smith, Graduate School of Oceanography.