Continuation of graduate student and postdoctoral support is requested for a multidisciplinary Training Program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB), directed by Dr. Keith R. Yamamoto. The program is the largest in the Program in Biological Sciences (PIBS) training consortium; it is administered by the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and includes 39 faculty and resources from seven basic science departments at UCSF. The primary goal of the program is to produce first rate researchers with an integrated perspective on biological problems and broad expertise in experimental approaches to their solution. Many of the training paradigms can be applied to investigations of the mechanisms of cancer and this complex family of diseases serves as a central conceptual and practical focal point. Both graduate and postdoctoral candidates are selected from highly competitive pools of applicants: About 25 students per year are drawn from about 300 applications after a complex application process that culminates in a day-long series of personal interviews. Postdoctorals are screened by individual faculty, who typically can choose fewer than one candidate in ten; candidates prepare written proposals for a program-wide competition submitted to a faculty committee. Underrepresented minority candidates are actively sought in an extensive series of programs. Training is accomplished through a combination of carefully designed didactic courses, opportunities for oral presentation and defense of scientific information and hypotheses, and interaction and collaboration with colleagues in other laboratories within BMB and in the broader scientific community at UCSF. Research is executed within a spatially compact intellectually integrated and well- equipped collection of member labs, and within a uniquely interactive and communicative environment.