This postdoctoral training program is a collaborative effort of the Division of Infectious Diseases (ID), the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, the Adolescent Medicine Division within the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Dermatology. There are essentially three tracks in the program. The basic science track focuses on the pathogenesis of and host responses to STDs and HIV-1. A second track focuses on behaviors that lead to acquisition and prevention of STDs, particularly in adolescents, and a third track focuses on health care delivery for HIV-1 in resource poor settings.

Postdoctoral trainees must be MDs or PhDs with interest in STD or HIV-1 research. MD candidates may be Infectious Disease Fellows or Adolescent Medicine Fellows. PhDs may have primary appointments in the Departments of Microbiology and Immunology, Medicine, Pediatrics or Dermatology. All training venues are open to the candidates.

Our goal is to train future faculty members who are conversant with basic, clinical and behavioral aspects of STDs and HIV-1. An important feature of the program is the interdisciplinary curriculum, which includes required attendance at an extensive course in STD and HIV research given annually at the University of Washington, an ethics course, a grant writing workshop and a research conference.

Elective courses are available in molecular methods, research design, biostatistics and epidemiology or in the Clinical Investigator Training Enhancement (CITE) program, which leads to a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation. The training faculty is composed of mentors who have stable federal funding and extensive training records. These mentors work collaboratively on HPV, Haemophilus ducreyi, Chlamydia trachomatis, basic aspects of HIV-1, new models for delivery of HIV care in resource poor settings, HIV-1 and endothelial cell dysfunction, STD epidemiology, behavioral factors that lead to acquisition of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, C. trachomatis, or Trichomonas vaginalis, and vaccine acceptance for STDs and topical microbicides