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OVERVIEW
The Program in Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology leads to the Ph.D. degree. It comprises a flexible course of formal and informal instruction combined with intensive practical research training in the frontier areas of modern cell developmental and molecular biology.
The program offers the student a wide variety of fields from which to choose a mentor and a thesis research topic. Areas of specialization include:
- Transmembrane signalling and other signal transduction systems
- Cell growth and differentiation
- Protein interactions and function
- Growth factors
- Neuropeptides
- Developmental biology
- Oncogenesis and tumor biology
- Regulation of gene expression and enzyme function
- Eukaryotic genome structure
- Intracellular sorting
- Cell-cell communication
- Biosynthesis of complex carbohydrates and cell surface glycoproteins
- Protein engineering
- Membrane cytoskeleton interactions
- Extracellular matrix
- Mitochondrial pathobiology
- Developmental neurobiology
There are unique opportunities in the medical school for relating Ph.D. training to clinical problems, especially in the area of cancer. The Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center provides a forum for a multidisciplinary approach to cancer research. Trainees in the program in recent years have been drawn from all parts of North America and Europe, together with Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
The Ph.D. Program seeks out students of superior achievements who have a strong background in science, particularly biochemistry and cell biology. The program has proven particularly attractive to the student seeking the combined M.D./Ph.D. degree. Graduates of our Doctoral Program have found careers in research institutions, medicine and biotechnology with most obtaining faculty positions in universities after postdoctoral training.
The University has been remarkably successful at attracting outstanding faculty both nationally and internationally. The faculty participating in the Program in Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology have achieved significant national and international recognition as evidenced by the fact that many members of the primary faculty are currently, or have been in the past, holders of the prestigious Research Career Development Awards of the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society. A significant number have served on NIH and NSF peer review committees and have been editors on major journals.
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