The aim of this three-year research training program is to develop independent investigators who will devote their career to research on fundamental aspects of gastrointestinal disease. The postdoctoral training involves three years of supervised, self-directed laboratory research aimed at developing in the trainee the ability to formulate meaningful scientific questions and hypotheses, design and conduct experiments to test hypothesis, and present results in oral and written form. Each trainee's postdoctoral research program is guided by the equivalent of a "thesis committee" consisting of three members, two of who are not the trainee's direct mentor. Laboratory research is performed in the mentor's laboratory and supplemented, as appropriate, by didactic course work appropriate to the trainee's project. The program also offers predoctoral training for Ph.D. candidates within the laboratories of faculty members of the training grant under the auspices of the Biomedical Sciences and Molecular Pathology Graduate Programs. The training faculty includes basic scientists at UCSD and neighboring research institutes where there is close collaboration. The training program is enriched by a strong seminar program. Specialized research fields of the sponsoring faculty relevant to the program include: (a) regulation of the immune response; (b) mechanisms of intracellular signaling; (c) regulation of cell growth and differentiation; (d) molecular basis of disease and gene therapy; (e) regulation of gene transcription; (f) intracellular trafficking; (g) regulation of electrolyte secretion; (h) regulation of the inflammatory response and (i) host-microbial pathogenesis. The program is designed for graduate students, M.D.s or Ph.D.s who are committed to an academic career in the gastroenterological sciences. The resources available are extensive and well funded. Special efforts are made to attract minority candidates. Trainees are instructed in the ethical conduct of research. At the completion of the program, the postdoctoral trainees should be competitive for entry level independent funding and predoctoral trainees will be highly competitive for outstanding postdoctoral positions.