? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This Genetics and Regulation Training Grant (GRTG), in its 40th year, is the primary source of support for graduate students in all areas of Genetics in the Biological Sciences Division (BSD) at the University of Chicago. Our research infrastructure and institutional anatomy are ideally suited to support this multi-layered interdisciplinary program, since the BSD encompasses the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division, the Pritzker School of Medicine, the basic science and clinical departments, interdisciplinary committees and associated graduate programs, and the research institutes and centers. The 52 faculty participating in the Program include members of 11 departments in the BSD and 3 Departments in the Physical Sciences Division, selected by their outstanding research, training record and research support. The trainers' specific strengths are focused in the areas of: chromosome organization and behavior, gene expression and developmental genetics, genetics of model organisms, population and evolutionary genetics, systems biology, and the genetics of human diseases with special emphasis on genetic alterations in cancer, diabetes, cardiac disorders, asthma, and mental health. Diverse systems of study include viruses, bacteria, Arabidopsis, yeast, ciliates, Drosophila, nematodes, zebrafish, mice, humans, and a variety of other plant and animal species. Trainers in this program are highly interactive, and their research is characterized by an interdisciplinary set of experimental and computational approaches. Students are nominated to the GRTG Program on the basis of the stated research interests and interviews by GRTG faculty trainers. Trainees (18), supported by the GRTG for the first 2.5 years, fulfill course requirements (transmission, molecular, population and evolutionary genetics/genomics) of the GRTG as well as those specified by their respective programs. Trainees are mentored and monitored by the GRTG Program Directors and Steering Committee members (7, representing the graduate programs involved) as well as the trainees' PhD committees until graduation. Trainees' experience is enriched by 1- attendance at the annual Genetics Symposium and seminars (Trainees invite 2-3 speakers/year), where they interact with the speakers, 2- weekly Journal (co-presenting with a Faculty trainer) and Data (to present their research and receive feedback) Clubs, 3- training in responsible conduct of research at the junior and senior level, 4- didactic teaching, 5- counseling in career development through the UChicago MyChoice (NIH BEST) program. The long-term objectives of this program are to educate well-trained scholars to 1) perform basic and applied biomedical research, 2) provide future educators in this discipline, and 3) fulfill health-related positions, in academia, industry public policy, education, and law requiring a sophisticated understanding of genetics and genomics.