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GRAND RAPIDS - Less than a year from now, the Van Andel Education Institute will open the doors of the Van Andel Graduate School and begin preparing graduate students for careers in biomedical research.
The graduate school will bring together the resources and expertise of the VAEI and the Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) to train graduate students in cell and molecular genetics. Students will be engaged in research from day one to graduation day, working in the laboratory side by side with VARI principal investigators, postdoctoral fellows and other members of the institute's research team.
The expectation is that the "learn by doing" experience will produce biomedical research scholars who will be experts in the technology and techniques of contemporary genetics. They'll learn how to think scientifically and analytically, how to design appropriate experiments, and how to translate basic science to clinical situations, according to VAFI. By the time students complete the program, they'll be ready to conduct original research.
The graduate program will produce qualified scientists who are prepared to extend the scientific developments in cell and molecular biology and who can bridge the gap between basic understanding and clinical application of advances in genetics, said Gordon L. Van Harn, Ph.D., VAEI director and provost emeritus and professor of biology at Calvin College.
"The students will...