Welcome from the Director

Welcome to the website of the Boston University Immunology Training Program (ITP). I’m glad you’ve found your way here and hope you have some time to spend with us to see what the program has to offer. If you are considering grad school, you have a lot to think about and important choices to make. We would like to help.

Our program is small, giving each trainee the chance to get to know and learn from our faculty members personally. But it is also part of a larger Program in Biomedical Science (PiBS), which encompasses several PhD programs. This overarching structure provides an environment rich in research and learning opportunities as well as a great chance to find a laboratory that matches both your personality and research interests.

Immunology was at the forefront of biomedical research at its very beginning over 150 years ago and has become a diverse discipline reaching into every aspect of biomedicine, from oncology to cardiology and even behavioral medicine, as well as autoimmunity and infectious disease. The ITP faculty are correspondingly diverse, together holding appointments in ten basic science or clinical departments. Several members of the program are investigators in the newly opened National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory where they are leading efforts against some of the most devastating pathogens ever known. Along with such diversity, the program maintains its own specific strengths, including autoimmunity, immuno-oncology, antiviral immunity, pulmonary immunity, immunotoxicology, anti-HIV immunity, vaccinology, and computational immunology. Our faculty members are world leaders in their fields and accomplished mentors. Boston University Medical Center prides itself on the seriousness with which it takes graduate training and its dedication to student success. Students here are cared for by the community as a whole, from mentors and instructors to program staff. Our students share a strong sense of belonging and support each other attentively.

Your success in graduate school and beyond depends on collaboration and cooperation as well as your own native talent and devotion. The ITP requires hard work and substantial dedication, but you will quickly see that the effort is absolutely worthwhile. When you complete your thesis work, you will have acquired a tremendous base of scientific knowledge and essential laboratory skills, and you will have developed the confidence required to launch a successful career in immunology or in any of the disciplines for which immunology has become so important.

Best wishes for a productive and fulfilling career in science,

Rahm Gummuluru, PhD.

Director, Immunology Training Program

Admission to the Immunology Training Program

Students enter the Immunology Training Program through the Program in Biomedical Sciences (PiBS).  After a year of interdisciplinary training, students then choose to join a specific laboratory and continue their training in a disciplinary program such as immunology.