NIH Biotech Training Program

Background on the Program

In 1989 the National Institutes of Health initiated a new and innovative funding program that would award graduate Training Grants in Biotechnology to public universities in the United States of America. The crux of the program was a need to establish a cadre of scientists and engineers trained to meet the nation’s biotechnological needs. One of the first nine grants awarded was responsible for establishing the NIH Biotechnology Training Program at Washington State University, which has been continuously funded by the NIH for 24 years to date.

Our Mission

The faculty members of the NIH Biotechnology Training Program at WSU, funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, make it their mission to train the next generation of scientists and workers with expertise in biotechnology. They execute this mission by providing interdisciplinary academic and industrial training in cutting edge biotechnology research at the graduate level. Twenty five individual faculty from six departments in four colleges constitute our core group of faculty that provides both depth and breadth of biotechnological training. Our rigorous program emphasizes the fundamentals and complexities of protein chemistry and draws heavily on the past and current research accomplishments of our training faculty. Here at WSU, members of the Program benefit from a wide array of resources, facile cooperation between laboratories and programs, strong institutional support and a culture that promotes and values diversity.