Predoctoral/Graduate Education Programs
INTEGRITY Post-Baccalaureate Program
Integrating Transdisciplinary Research and Training to Eliminate Cancer Health Disparities (INTEGRITY) is a two-year post-baccalaureate program whose goal is to train a new generation of health disparities researchers, through an educational and training experience that will empower trainees to visualize and embrace their future studies with confidence, excitement, and purpose within a culture that fosters fearless scientific inquiry, communication, and belonging. Fellows will be taught and mentored by internationally recognized experts in the science of cancer health disparities research, community outreach, and community-based research participation.
Eligibility. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree, in any STEM discipline or health profession, from an accredited college or university awarded before applying to the program, Applicants must be able to commit to full-time participation in the program for 2 years and cannot be simultaneously enrolled in a graduate degree program. Preference will be given to applicants who can be considered an under-represented minority in science (African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, or Pacific Islander) and/or be students from economically or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds, such as economically low-income households, a person with a disability, or a first-generation college attendee, determined by self-report on the application. US Citizenship is not required for DICR Post-Baccalaureate Fellows. Students will be supported by a stipend for housing and meals.
T35 Training Grants
NIH-T35 institutional training grants at Columbia University Irving Medical Center from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), and National Institute on Aging (NIA) provide funds to support up to 61 students in the summer between their 1st and 2nd years of medical school as they perform research projects guided by a Columbia faculty member. The three T35 Programs collectively comprise the NIH Summer Research Program at CUIMC, to which student apply through a common interface (see below). VP&S students have priority for traineeships, with additional traineeships annually awarded to selected students at other medical schools.
Each Institute prioritizes projects within their research mission, and many cancer-related projects qualify on this basis. A few traineeships are also available to students who apply with experienced investigators in other fields and whose projects are well-reviewed.
Resources for applicants and trainees are available on the NIH Summer Research Program Canvas site.
Genome and Epigenome Integrity in Cancer (GEIC) Training Program
This new university-wide training program, Genome and Epigenome Integrity in Cancer (GEIC), will prepare predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows for productive careers in basic and translational cancer research on the roles of genomic and epigenomic instability in cancer. The educational goal of GEIC is to serve as a premier training site nationwide for emerging researchers who will elucidate the biological processes underlying genome and epigenome instability and translate these insights into cancer treatment. Another important goal is to increase the diversity of future scientists engaged in this kind of research. To achieve these goals, GEIC identifies and recruits a diverse pool of trainees, offering them a rigorous and individualized curriculum, and providing them with research experience in the laboratories of 25 investigators at Columbia University.
Graduate Training Program in Microbiology and Immunology
This NAID-funded training program provides funds for two years for selected predoctoral students who have attained dissertator status within the PhD program in Microbiology, Immunology, and Infection, which is based in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Our PhD granting program provides predoctoral trainees with a unique opportunity to obtain individualized training within a broad yet cohesive program of scientific inquiry into the immune system, host response to infection, pathogen biology, systems approaches to microbiology and immunology, cancer immunology, human immunology, transplantation, and processes of microbial and immune cell replication. Underrepresented minorities, who we actively seek to recruit, comprised 17% of our cohort.
Learn more about the Department's graduate programs
Human Nutrition Research Project
The PhD Program in Nutritional and Metabolic Biology is an inter-disciplinary and multi-departmental training program that is housed within the Institute of Human Nutrition of Columbia University. Research focuses on applying knowledge of the molecular and cellular events that lead to and promote cancer development to the design of cancer therapies and prevention strategies. Past projects of interest involve carcinogenesis of digestive organs.
Cellular, Molecular & Biomedical Studies
This training grant supports pre-doctoral students in the Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Studies (CMBS). The CMBS is a PhD granting interdisciplinary program that combines faculty from all the basic science departments. The CMBS Program is an umbrella program that presents students with a unique opportunity to obtain individualized training in basic cell and molecular biology, microbiology, structural biology, biophysics, genetics, immunology, neurobiology, structural biology, systems biology and computational biology, as well as translational biomedical disease-related research, such as cancer biology and neurodegenerative disease research.
Reducing Health Disparities Through Informatics
The NINR funded Reducing Health Disparities Thorough Informatics (RHeaDI) program provides training in informatics for pre- and post-doctoral students in the Columbia School of Nursing. The program provides trainees with research support, didactic courses, networking opportunities, and financial assistance to conduct interdisciplinary research using informatics and precision medicine approaches to advance health equity and facilitate evidence-based practice in underserved populations. Predoctoral trainees must be PhD students in nursing or biomedical informatics.
Genetics Approaches to Development and Disease
Genetic Approaches to Development and Disease (GADD) trains young scientists in the use of modern genetics to address major challenges in biomedical research. Students in the GADD program receive advanced training in genetic analyses using model organisms, current genetic and genomic techniques, biostatistics, history of genetics, and the ethics of modern genetics. A major goal of the GADD program is diversification of the biomedical workforce through effective recruitment, retention, and support: URM students represent 16% of current students.
Advanced training in environmental health and data science: molecules to populations
In collaboration with the Mailman School of Public Health, this training program represents the consolidation of three NIEHS T32 training grants at Columbia University (Interdisciplinary Training in Climate and Health, Graduate and Postdoctoral Training in Environmental Health Science and Toxicology, Training Program in Environmental Life Course Epidemiology) into a unified training program designed to address critical needs in the field of environmental health sciences. Our predoctoral trainees will participate in: 1) a core curriculum in environmental health sciences (using a life course approach to study molecular mechanisms of disease, epidemiologic methods, health effects of climate change, and the exposome) 2) a core curriculum in data sciences, 3) specialized coursework to support dissertation research, 4) research rotations, 5) small interdisciplinary training groups, and 6) dissertation research.
Medical Scientist Training Program
The goal of Columbia's Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) is to train the next generation of biomedical leaders. Our program emphasizes both clinical and scientific education. The academic environment at Columbia fosters innovative scholarship and nurtures the vision to translate scientific findings to clinical practice.
Hormones: Molecular Mechanism of Action and Functions
The Hormones: Molecular Mechanism of Action and Functions program provides support and training to highly motivated predoctoral and postdoctoral researchers in the field of endocrinology and related subjects dealing with all aspects of hormone biology at the organ, cellular, and molecular levels through modern genetic tools in various model organisms and in human subjects.
Training in Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University (DBMI)
The NLM-funded Biomedical informatics Training Program at Columbia University is run by the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI), but is closely tied to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the Columbia Data Science Institute, the Department of Systems Biology, and departments and schools throughout the university. The Program offers courses and research training for 1) pre-doctoral PhD trainees and 2) post-doctoral MA and PhD trainees, as well as for 3) post-doctoral non-degree trainees with previous informatics doctoral training.
F30/F31 Predoctoral Fellowships
F30 and F31 Awards are NIH-funded, individual, pre-doctoral training fellowships. These awards are part of the NIH Ruth L. Kirstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Program. Eligibility for F30 awards require that the applicant be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, enrolled in a dual degree program, such as a combined MD/PhD program.
Learn more about the F30 programs
F31 awards are open to U.S. citizens or permanent residents enrolled in a research doctoral program, who are from population groups that have been shown to be underrepresented in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical research workforce.
Learn more about the F31 awards
TL1 Doctoral Student Program
The TL1 Training Programs are intended to provide trainees with additional research training to prepare for a research career that can contribute in some meaningful way to understanding risk of disease, improving diagnosis and prevention, and tailoring treatment based on an individual’s variation in genes, environment, and/or lifestyle.
The TL1 Doctoral Program provides doctoral students with one to two years of research training, which run simultaneously with students’ ongoing doctoral training. The program allows doctoral students to gain knowledge and skill-sets that may be outside of their primary academic or clinical discipline. The interdisciplinary education gained as a TL1 trainee will serve as an invaluable asset in conducting future research and collaborating with scientists and investigators from other clinical and academic fields of knowledge. Participation in this program will not necessitate extending an individual’s doctoral training program. Initially awarded for one year and renewed for a second year with satisfactory progress.
TL1 Summer Training Program
The TL1 Training Programs are intended to provide trainees with additional research training to prepare for a research career that can contribute in some meaningful way to understanding risk of disease, improving diagnosis and prevention, and tailoring treatment based on an individual’s variation in genes, environment, and/or lifestyle.
The TL1 Summer Training Program provides doctoral students who have completed their first (or in some cases, second) year of training with a summer stipend over the 12-week program. Students are expected to attend didactic training as well as participate in experiential learning. The program allows doctoral students to gain knowledge and skill-sets that may be outside of their primary academic or clinical discipline. The interdisciplinary education gained as a TL1 trainee will serve as an invaluable asset in conducting future research and collaborating with scientists and investigators from other clinical and academic fields of knowledge.