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Program Information

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Detailed Information

Programs of Study

The Graduate Program in Skeletal, Craniofacial, and Oral Biology provides students with interdisciplinary research training in the areas of skeletal, craniofacial, and oral biology, emphasizing contemporary research technologies in cell, molecular, and developmental biology; genetics; and biochemistry. Trainees may enter a Ph.D. program or a combined D.M.D./Ph.D., M.D./Ph.D., or dental residency/Ph.D. program. The program prepares trainees for academic or industrial careers in the basic biomedical sciences or for academic careers in medicine or dental medicine.

Areas of research include regulation of the formation, outgrowth, and patterning of the developing limb; control of cartilage differentiation, endochondral ossification, osteogenesis, and joint formation; molecular regulation of gene expression in bone; homeobox gene regulation of osteoblast differentiation; gene therapy of bone diseases; hormonal and cytokine regulation of bone growth, formation, and remodeling; control of craniofacial skeletogenesis and tooth development; signal transduction and intracellular signaling pathways; cellular and molecular aspects of the pathogenesis of inflammatory disease; microbiology, pathogenesis, and immunology of caries and periodontal disease; neural structure and function in the gustatory system; biomaterial development for tissue engineering; bone cell–implant interactions; differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into skeletal tissues; and analysis of oral and mucosal function and disease.

Research Facilities

The University complex provides excellent physical facilities for research in both basic and clinical sciences. The Health Center Library is well equipped with extensive journal and book holdings and rapid electronic access to database searching, the World Wide Web, and library holdings. The library also contains the Computer Education Center and the End User Support Center. The Center for Laboratory Animal Care contains a transgenic mouse production facility fully equipped for gene targeting studies and with special facilities for housing immunodeficient animals. Facilities include the Center for Biomaterials, the General Clinical Research Center, the Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling (confocal microscopy, low light level microscopy, two photon microscopy), the Center for Bone Histology and Histomorphometry; the Molecular Imaging Laboratory, the Fluorescence Flow Cytometry Facility, the Electron Microscopy Facility, Gene Targeting and Transgenic Facility, the Microarray Core Facility, the Molecular Core Facility, NMR Structural Biology Facility, National Resource for Cell Analysis and Modeling, and the Center for Molecular Medicine (laser capture microdissection).

Financial Aid

Support for doctoral students engaged in full-time degree programs at the Health Center is provided on a competitive basis. Graduate research assistantships for 2009–10 provide a stipend of $27,000 per year, which includes a waiver of tuition/University fees for the fall and spring semesters and a student health-insurance plan. While financial aid is offered competitively, the Health Center makes every possible effort to address the financial needs of all students during their period of training.

Cost of Study

For 2009–10, tuition is $4455 per semester ($8910 per year) for full-time students (Connecticut residents) and $11,565 per semester ($23,130 per year) for full-time out-of-state residents. General University fees are added to the cost of tuition for students who do not receive a tuition waiver. These costs are usually met by traineeships or research assistantships for doctoral students.

Living and Housing Costs

There is a wide range of affordable housing options in the Greater Hartford area within easy commuting distance of the campus, including an extensive complex that is adjacent to the Health Center. Costs range from $600 to $900 per month for a one-bedroom unit; two or more students sharing an apartment usually pay less. University housing is not available at the Health Center.

Student Group

The Program in Skeletal, Craniofacial, and Oral Biology has approximately 20 trainees. At the Health Center there are about 500 students in the Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine, 150 Ph.D. students, and about 50 postdoctoral fellows. Graduate students are represented on various administrative committees concerned with curricular affairs. A graduate student organization fosters social contact among graduate students in the Health Center and represents graduate students’ needs and concerns to the faculty and administration.

Location

The Health Center is located in the historic town of Farmington, Connecticut. Set in the beautiful New England countryside, on a hill overlooking the Farmington Valley, it is close to ski areas, hiking trails, and facilities for boating, fishing, and swimming. Connecticut’s capital city of Hartford, 7 miles east of Farmington, is the center of an urban region of approximately 800,000 people. The beaches of the Long Island Sound are about 50 minutes away to the south, and the beautiful Berkshires are a short drive to the northwest. New York City and Boston can be reached within 2½ hours by car.

Hartford is the home of the acclaimed Hartford Stage Company, TheatreWorks, the Hartford Symphony and Chamber orchestras, two ballet companies, an opera company, the Wadsworth Atheneum (the oldest public art museum in the nation), the Mark Twain house, the Hartford Civic Center, and many other interesting cultural and recreational facilities. The area is also home to several branches of the University of Connecticut, Trinity College, and the University of Hartford, which includes the Hartt School of Music. Bradley International Airport (about 30 minutes from campus) serves the Hartford/Springfield area with frequent airline connections to major cities in this country and abroad. Frequent bus and rail service is also available from Hartford.

The Health Center

The 200-acre Health Center campus at Farmington houses a division of the University of Connecticut Graduate School, as well as the Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine. The campus also includes the John Dempsey Hospital, associated clinics, and extensive medical research facilities, all in a centralized facility with more than 1 million square feet of floor space. The Health Center’s newest research addition, the Academic Research Building, opened in 1999. This impressive eleven-story structure provides 170,000 square feet of state-of-the-art laboratory space. The faculty at the center includes more than 260 full-time members. The institution has a strong commitment to graduate study within an environment that promotes social and intellectual interaction among the various educational programs. Graduate students are represented on various administrative committees concerned with curricular affairs, and the Graduate Student Organization (GSO) represents graduate students’ needs and concerns to the faculty and administration, in addition to fostering social contact among graduate students in the Health Center.

Applying

Applications for admission should be submitted on standard forms that can be obtained from the Graduate Admissions Office at the University of Connecticut (UConn) Health Center or from the Web site at http://grad.uchc.edu/oral_bio/oralbio_intro.html. Applications should be filed together with transcripts, three letters of recommendation, a personal statement, and recent results from the General Test of the Graduate Record Examinations. International students must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to satisfy Graduate School requirements.

The deadline for completed applications and receipt of all supplemental materials is December 15. Deadlines and application procedures for combined programs vary depending on the program. For further information on combined programs, prospective students should contact Dr. Mina Mina in the Department of Reconstructive Sciences.

In accordance with the laws of the state of Connecticut and of the United States, the University of Connecticut Health Center does not discriminate against any person in its educational and employment activities on the grounds of race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, or physical disability.

The Faculty and Their Research

• Andrew Arnold, Professor of Medicine and Murray-Heilig Chair in Molecular Medicine; M.D., Harvard. The molecular genetic underpinnings of tumors of the endocrine glands, role of the cyclin D1 oncogene, animal modeling of hyperparathyroidism.
• Caroline N. Dealy, Associate Professor of Reconstructive Sciences, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development; Ph.D., Connecticut. Roles of various growth factors and signaling molecules, particularly IGF-I and insulin, in the regulation of chick limb development.
• Anne Delany, Assistant Professor of Medicine; Ph.D., Dartmouth. Study of noncollagenous matrix proteins and metalloproteinases important in bone remodeling, including investigation of function and posttranscriptional regulation of osteonectin or SPARC in bone and function and regulation of the metastasis-associated metalloproteinase, stromelysyin-3, in bone.
• Anna Dongari-Bagtzoglou, Assistant Professor, Department of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences, Division of Periodontology; D.D.S., Ph.D., Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Host-pathogen interactions, with emphasis on the pathogenesis of inflammation and the innate immune functions of oral mucosal cells.
• Paul M. Epstein, Associate Professor of Cell Biology; Ph.D., Yeshiva (Einstein). Second messengers and signal transduction, with particular focus on cyclic nucleotide metabolism and protein phosphorylation, with emphasis on analysis of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE).
• Marion Frank, Professor of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences and Director, Center for Neurosciences; Ph.D., Brown. Study of the sense of taste, using basic and clinical research; development of a fundamental understanding of gustatory systems in mammals at all levels from receptors to cerebral cortex; application of basic knowledge of gustatory systems to the diagnosis and treatment of taste disorders in humans.
• A. Jon Goldberg, Professor of Reconstructive Sciences, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development; Ph.D., Michigan. Biomaterials, with studies involving structure-property relationships, development of novel systems, clinical evaluations, and surface analysis.
• Gloria Gronowicz, Professor of Surgery; Ph.D., Columbia. Effects of hormones and growth factors on the production of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, on the regulation of integrins (receptors for ECM proteins), and on apoptosis in bone; response of bone cells to implant biomaterials.
• Arthur R. Hand, Professor of Craniofacial Sciences, Division of Pediatric Dentistry; D.D.S., UCLA. Study of gene expression in rodent salivary glands during normal growth and development and in various experimental conditions employing morphological, immunological, and biochemical methodology.
• Marc Hansen, Professor of Medicine, Center for Molecular Medicine; Ph.D., Cincinnati. Molecular genetics of osteosarcoma and related bone diseases.
• John R. Harrison, Professor of Craniofacial Sciences, Division of Orthodontics; Ph.D., Connecticut. Hormonal regulation of bone remodeling.
• Marja M. Hurley, Associate Professor of Medicine; M.D., Connecticut. Molecular mechanisms regulating the expression of fibroblast growth factors in bone, mechanisms of signal transduction by growth factors in bone cells, and role of fibroblast growth factors in bone remodeling.
• Robert A. Kosher, Professor of Reconstructive Sciences, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development; Ph.D., Temple. Limb development; roles and relationships among regulatory genes, particularly homeobox-containing genes, secreted signaling molecules, and the extracellular matrix in the regulation of limb formation, outgrowth, patterning, cartilage differentiation, osteogenesis, and joint formation.
• Barbara E. Kream, Professor of Medicine; Ph.D., Yale. Hormonal regulation of bone remodeling.
• Liisa T. Kuhn, Assistant Professor of Reconstructive Sciences, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development; Ph.D., California, Santa Barbara. Biomaterials for drug delivery and bone regeneration and repair.
• Marc Lalande, Professor and Head, Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology; Ph.D., Toronto. Genomic imprinting of human chromosome 15q.
• Leo Lefrancois, Professor of Immunology; Ph.D., Wake Forest. T-lymphocyte development, mucosal immunology, intestinal intraepithelial T lymphocytes, gamma/delta T cells.
• Alexander Lichtler, Associate Professor of Reconstructive Sciences, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development; Ph.D., Florida. Hormone regulation of bone collagen synthesis.
• Alan G. Lurie, Professor of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences and Chairperson, Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology; D.D.S., UCLA; Ph.D., Rochester. Actions and interactions of radiation and chemical carcinogens during epithelial carcinogenesis, DNA mutagenesis and repair by gamma radiation in lymphoblasts from both normal and ataxia telangiectatic humans, clinical research digital imaging.
• Sanjay Mallya, Assistant Professor of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences, Division of Oral Diagnosis; M.D.S., Bombay; Ph.D., Connecticut. Molecular genetics of oral cancer, effects of parathyroid hormone on bone.
• Mina Mina, Professor of Craniofacial Sciences; Chairperson, Division of Pediatric Dentistry; and Director, Skeletal, Craniofacial, and Oral Biology Graduate Program; D.M.D., National University of Iran; Ph.D., Connecticut Health Center. Development of the mandibular arch, including the elongation and polarized outgrowth of the mandibular primordia and subsequent differentiation of the skeletal tissues in spatially defined patterns; characterization of genetic and epigenetic influences involved in the pattern formation and skeletogenesis of the chick mandible and mouse tooth germ; regulation of patterning in the developing mandible and developing teeth by mandibular epithelium, extracellular matrix molecules, growth factors, and transcription factors.
• Carol C. Pilbeam, Professor of Medicine; Ph.D., Yale. Mechanisms of regulation of bone formation and resorption.
• Ernst Reichenberger, Assistant Professor of Reconstructive Sciences, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development; Ph.D., Erlangen (Germany). Study of complex processes required for generating and maintaining the skin and bones through characterization of human genetic disorders in which they are disrupted, including aplasia cutis congenita (ACC), cherubism, and craniometaphyseal dysplasia (CMD).
• Blanka Rogina, Assistant Professor of Genetics and Developmental Biology; Ph.D., Zagreb (Croatia). Molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying aging and cost of reproduction.
• David W. Rowe, Professor of Reconstructive Sciences and Director, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development; M.D., Vermont. Genetic and hormonal control of type I collagen production, development of strategies for somatic gene therapy for heritable diseases of bone built upon the structural and regulatory principles of collagen production.
• Jason M. Tanzer, Professor of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences and Chairperson, Division of Microbiology and Oral Medicine; D.M.D., Tufts; Ph.D., Georgetown. Physiological/biochemical/genetic bases of virulence by the mutans streptococci and their expression and modification in both humans and experimental animals; secretion of saliva, its regulation by novel and old cholinomimetic agents, and associated characterization of the pharmacokinetics of these agents and pharmacodynamics of cardiovascular, salivary, and lachrymal responses in experimental animals and humans.
• William B. Upholt, Professor of Reconstructive Sciences, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development; Ph.D., Cal Tech. Molecular mechanisms regulating differentiation and pattern formation during embryonic skeletal development in the limb and mandible, use of transgenic mouse model systems, study of the regulation of the process of chondrogenesis.
• Sunil Wadhwa, Assistant Professor of Craniofacial Sciences, Division of Orthodontics; D.D.S., Columbia; Ph.D., Connecticut. Bone biology and temporomandibular joint development and function.

Correspondence and Information

University of Connecticut Health Center
Dr. Mina Mina
Craniofacial Sciences and Pediatric Dentistry
Department of Reconstructive Sciences
Farmington, Connecticut 06030-3705
Telephone: 860-679-4081
Email: mina@nso1.uchc.edu