Graduate Training

The Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology, and Infectious Disease is focused on providing graduate students with the best possible support, education, and experience as they work through their graduate careers with Purdue University. As a portion of that support, the institute leverages a number of the existing programs, especially the PULSe Graduate Program and departments at Purdue, in order to provide a novel, interdisciplinary training experience unique to these areas. 

Testimony from Vinay Menon, PULSe/Chemical Biology Training Group, Organic Chemistry division, who was awarded a PI4D PhD Fellowship.

"I am a third-year student in the Purdue University Interdisciplinary Life Sciences (PULSe) program working in Dr. Jean Chmielewski’s lab in the Chemistry Department. Our lab focuses on developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of HIV and bacterial infections. My main project centers around developing and characterizing peptide-based therapies for the treatment of multi-drug resistant bacteria, such as MRSA. This process has involved synthesis of amino acid derivatives, assembly of anti-bacterial peptides on a solid support, followed by purification, spectroscopic analysis, and, finally, biophysical experiments to determine how the peptide interacts with its unique bacterial target. I supported myself during my master’s through teaching assistantships for my department, so I am well-versed in the difficulty in juggling teaching, coursework and research. The fellowship provided by PI4D over these past two years has allowed me the rare opportunity to focus on my research goals without the added responsibilities associated with teaching and was especially useful while I was preparing for my preliminary exam. I am truly grateful to have been given this opportunity; it has allowed me to flourish, learn new techniques, and develop my skills as a scientist and I would like to sincerely thank PI4D for selecting me for such a prestigious honor."