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Graduate Program in Cell and Molecular Biology

Cell and Molecular Biology (CMB) is a degree-granting unit within the Molecular Biosciences cluster, which also includes:

• Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics (BMB)
• Committee on Developmental Biology (CDB)
• Committee on Genetics, Genomics & Systems Biology (GGSB)
• Human Genetics.

The academic units of the cluster share a core curriculum and a common admissions process.

The goal of the doctoral program in Cell and Molecular Biology is to foster advanced scholarship and research in the combined areas of cell biology, genetics, and molecular biology. Students are introduced to a broad spectrum of experimental rationales and technical approaches and typically learn several in depth. Skills in genetic analysis include transgenic, reverse genetic, and genomic analysis, as well as molecular analysis of genes and gene products. Skills in structural analysis include the use of advanced optical and electron microscopy, including EM tomography, atomic force microscopy, and dynamic in vivo imaging. Students learn to identify the model organisms and the appropriate tools and techniques that will allow them to answer their scientific questions in the most effective way. Among the model organisms in which training is available are eukaryotic and prokaryotic viruses, diverse bacteria including cyanobacteria, Tetrahymena, Saccharomyces and other yeasts, Chlamydomonas, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis, Arabidopsis and other plant species, mice, and humans.

The program is administered by the Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and draws its internationally distinguished faculty from that department as well as from a number of others. At a broad level, the research programs of this faculty seek to reveal the very basic molecular mechanisms underlying biological phenomena in a cellular context. Major research foci include the biogenesis of cellular organelles; the assembly and organization of cellular structures; the coordination, regulation and four dimensional orchestration of the cell division cycle; the molecular basis of gene expression and regulation; cellular and molecular aspects of chromosome recombination and transmission; molecular and cellular mechanisms of metazoan development; mechanisms of cell-cell interaction in fertilization, development and disease; and how cells sense and respond to signals. Students trained in the program are highly competitive for top postdoctoral positions and go on to influential careers in basic academic, biomedical, or industrial research.

See also:

• Molecular Biosciences (official web site of the PhD Program)
• Admission to Graduate Studies in the Molecular Biosciences
• Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology

News

• Janet Rowley to receive Japan Prize for role in development of targeted cancer therapy, January 25, 2012, UChicago News

• Repair, mutation, and other topics. Autobiographical sketch by Bernard S. Strauss, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Chicago.

• Congratulations to Julian Boggiano, a graduate student in the Committee on Development, Regeneration, and Stem Cell Biology (Fehon's group) for a Featured Article in Developmental Cell:
Boggiano, J., Vanderzalm, P., & Fehon, R. (2011). Tao-1 Phosphorylates Hippo/MST Kinases to Regulate the Hippo-Salvador-Warts Tumor Suppressor Pathway Developmental Cell, 21 (5), 888-895 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2011.08.028;
(see also: The Controller of Hippos and Yorkies)

• David Kovar, PhD and Edwin “Chip” Ferguson, PhD receive 2011 Annual Distinguished Faculty Award in the category: Distinguished Educator/Mentor in Basic Science Education, May 12, 2011 (read more)

• The University of Chicago Biology Graduate Programs rank 13th nation-wide in 2011! Source: U.S. News.

• Dr. Janet D. Rowley featured in The New York Times, February 7, 2011: A Conversation with The Matriarch of Modern Cancer Genetics

See also:

• News Archives