Cell Biology and Molecular Physiology (PhD)

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The graduate program in Cell Biology and Molecular Physiology has a rich tradition of scientific training and discovery. Graduates of the PhD program have gone on to become chairs of departments at six major U.S. medical schools, and are represented at all levels of academic and biomedical research. The program combines basic and clinical research faculty who are dedicated to the training of students. Faculty employ an integrative biology focus: combining tools of imaging, genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, structural biology, computational modeling and physiological approaches to understand the functions of cells, tissues and organisms. Both basic scientists and clinical researchers seek to investigate dysregulation of normal cell biological functions in human disease. The program is home to the Center for Biologic Imaging, a state-of-the-art imaging center and the NIH-supported, O’Brien Kidney Center. Areas of expertise in the program include the cellular trafficking of proteins and lipids, genetic disorders of ion channels, regulation of gene expression during development, DNA damage repair and cancer, models of neurodegeneration and aging, signal transduction in diabetes, cell biology and physiology of renal diseases and the regulation of male and female reproduction systems.