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Program in Molecular Biology


The Graduate School
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah



Detailed Information

Programs of Study


The Program in Molecular Biology has a number of faculty members drawn from the Departments of Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Human Genetics, Medicinal Chemistry, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Oncological Sciences, and Pathology. Research interests include genetics, developmental biology, neurobiology, biochemistry/structural biology, cancer/cell biology, gene expression, and microbiology/immunology.

Students admitted by the Program in Molecular Biology take a common set of first-year courses. Each student chooses four different research laboratories. In order to become acquainted with possible research supervisors. A student in good standing at the end of the first academic year chooses a faculty research supervisor for further doctoral study and is automatically admitted to the graduate program of the supervisor’s department. Additional requirements for the Ph.D. are set by individual departments, but they are similar throughout the program.

Research Facilities


The participating departments all have up-to-date facilities. Shared research equipment includes electron microscopes, X-ray crystallographic diffraction instrumentation, NMR and mass spectrometers, oligonucleotide synthesizers, and protein sequencing equipment. For more information, students should visit http://www.cores.utah.edu.

There are centralized facilities for production of monoclonal antibodies and for cell microinjection. There is an extensive network linking most microcomputers and several large mainframe computers. There are two comprehensive science libraries, one on the main campus (near the Departments of Biology and Chemistry) and the other at the Medical Center.

Financial Aid


The Program in Molecular Biology supports students during the first year without requiring teaching. Support after the first year is from individual departments and research programs through teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and NIH training grants. One semester of teaching experience is generally required after the first year, regardless of the source of support. The level of support for 2007–08 was $25,000, plus a $1000 starting allocation for the year. The Program in Molecular Biology also covers the cost of health and dental insurance.

Cost of Study


Tuition and fees are paid by the Program in Molecular Biology for the first year and after that by departments or by individual research programs; currently there is no cost to students.

Living and Housing Costs


Housing is available within walking distance of the University in private apartments and in University housing. Rent for a typical one-bedroom unfurnished private apartment is $600 per month both on and off campus. University housing includes all utilities except a telephone.

Student Group


The Program in Molecular Biology admits 30 to 35 graduate students per year. The University as a whole has about 6,600 graduate students, with approximately 300 graduate students in disciplines related to the program. Students come from all states and many countries.

Location


The University is located in Salt Lake City, 1½ miles east of the city center, in a quiet residential neighborhood. The site is at an altitude of 4,500 feet just at the base of the Wasatch Range, which rises precipitously to the east and south of the University. The main campus, home to the Department of Biology, is less than 1 mile from the Medical Center, which houses the Departments of Biochemistry, Oncological Sciences, Human Genetics, Neurobiology, and Pathology. Travel between the two campuses is a pleasant 15-minute walk; there are also frequent free shuttle buses and TRAX train.

Metropolitan Salt Lake City, with a population of about 898,000, is the economic and cultural center of the intermountain region of the western United States. The city is well-known for classical music (Utah Symphony), dance (Repertory Dance Theater, Ballet West), and sports (Utah Jazz and University teams). Salt Lake City is a popular vacation destination for outdoor enthusiasts because of the nearby mountains, forests, and deserts, with opportunities for skiing, climbing, hiking, fishing, and camping close at hand. Nine national parks are within a day’s drive.

The University


Founded in 1850, the University of Utah is the oldest state university west of the Missouri. The total enrollment is approximately 28,000. There are about 1,700 teaching faculty members and 1,800 adjunct, research, and clinical faculty members. The University includes colleges of medicine, law, education, business, mines and mineral industries, science, humanities, social and behavioral sciences, health, fine arts, engineering, nursing, pharmacy, and social work.

Applying


Application materials are available by request or on the Program in Molecular Biology’s Web site at http://www.bioscience.utah.edu. The program requires a completed application form, transcripts of grades of all college-level courses, a report on the General Test portion of the Graduate Record Examinations (verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing), three letters of recommendation solicited by the applicant, and a detailed personal statement of career interests. The University’s application fee is paid by the program. Applications are due January 15 for entrance the following August. The program’s Admissions Committee invites promising prospective students for personal interviews; travel expenses for invited students are paid by the Program in Molecular Biology.

Faculty Interest Groups


  • Biochemistry/Structural Biology
  • E. Dale Abel, Biochemistry. Metabolic regulation and mitochondria.
  • Brenda Bass, Biochemistry. dsRNA binding proteins.
  • David Blair, Biology. Bacterial motility.
  • Don Blumenthal, Biochemistry. Protein kinases.
  • Darrell Davis, Biochemistry. RNA structure.
  • Tim Formosa, Biochemistry. DNA replication; chromatin.
  • David Goldenberg, Biology. Protein dynamics and function.
  • Charles Grissom, Biochemistry. Cancer drug delivery and enzymology.
  • Chris Hill, Biochemistry. Protein structure and function.
  • Martin Horvath, Biology. Structural biology; X-ray crystallography.
  • Michael Kay, Biochemistry. Protein design.
  • John Phillips, Pathology. Porphyrin biosynthesis.
  • Martin Rechsteiner, Biochemistry. Intracellular proteolysis.
  • Jared Rutter, Biochemistry. Metabolic signaling.
  • Wesley Sundquist, Biochemistry. Retrovirus biochemistry.
  • Dennis Winge, Biochemistry. Metalloproteins; metalloregulation.
  • Cancer/Cell Biology
  • Rick Ash, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Membrane transport.
  • Don Ayer, Oncological Sciences. Metabolism cancer.
  • Markus Babst, Biology. Protein trafficking.
  • Mary Beckerle, Biology and Oncological Sciences. Cell adhesion; cytoskeleton.
  • David Gard, Biology. Microtubules and MAPs.
  • Doug Grossman, Oncological Sciences. Apoptosis and skin cancer.
  • Eric Huang, Oncological Sciences. Genetic instability; tumor progression.
  • David Jones, Oncological Sciences. Colon cancer development.
  • Stephen Lessnick, Oncological Sciences. Pediatric cancer biology.
  • Don McClain, Biochemistry. Molecular biology of diabetes.
  • Jody Rosenblatt, Oncological Sciences. Cell death/division.
  • Janet Shaw, Biochemistry. Mechanisms of mitochondrial dynamics.
  • Matt Topham, Oncological Sciences. Lipid signaling.
  • Katharine Ullman, Oncological Sciences. RNA export; cell division.
  • Alana Welm, Oncological Sciences. Metastasis of breast cancer.
  • Bryan Welm, Oncological Sciences. Breast cancer/stem cells.
  • Developmental Biology
  • Mario Capecchi, Human Genetics. Molecular genetics.
  • Richard Dorsky, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Developmental neurobiology.
  • Sabine Fuhrmann, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Regulation of early eye development.
  • David Grunwald, Human Genetics. Developmental genetics in zebrafish.
  • Gabrielle Kardon, Human Genetics. Musculoskeletal development.
  • Darryl Kropf, Biology. Plant development.
  • Anthea Letsou, Human Genetics. Signaling and developmental biology.
  • Edward Levine, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Developmental neurobiology.
  • Dean Li, Oncological Sciences. Pathogenesis of vascular disease.
  • Susan Mango, Oncological Sciences. Development and physiology of organs.
  • Suzanne Mansour, Human Genetics. Fgf signaling; ear development.
  • Mark Metzstein, Human Genetics. Cell morphogenesis.
  • Anne Moon, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Cardiovascular development.
  • Charles Murtaugh, Human Genetics. Pancreas development.
  • Shannon Odelberg, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Mechanisms of regeneration.
  • Tatjana Piotrowski, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Cell migration in zebrafish.
  • Yukio Saijoh, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Mouse embryogenesis.
  • A. Sánchez Alvarado, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Regeneration and stem cells.
  • Gary Schoenwolf, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Pattering during embryogenesis.
  • Leslie Sieburth, Biology. Plant developmental genetics.
  • Gillian Stanfield, Human Genetics. Cell biology of nematode sperm.
  • Carl Thummel, Human Genetics. Development genetics; transcription.
  • Monica Vetter, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Neural development.
  • Qiang Wu, Human Genetics. Gene expression; bioinformatics.
  • Joseph Yost, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Cancer genetics; developmental biology.
  • Gene Expression
  • John Atkins, Human Genetics. Reprogrammed genetic decoding.
  • Wolfgang Baehr, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Mammalian phototransduction.
  • Brad Cairns, Oncological Sciences. Chromatin; transcription; genomics.
  • Barbara Graves, Oncological Sciences. Transcription; protein biochemistry.
  • Betty Leibold, Oncological Sciences. Iron regulation of gene expression.
  • David Stillman, Pathology. Gene regulation.
  • Dean Tantin, Pathology. Mammalian gene regulation.
  • Genetics
  • Art Brothman, Human Genetics. Molecular mechanisms of prostate cancer.
  • Dana Carroll, Biochemistry. Recombination; gene targeting.
  • Gary Drews, Biology. Plant development.
  • Karen Eilbeck, Human Genetics. Bioinformatics research.
  • Kevin Flanigan, Human Genetics. Molecular neurogenetics.
  • Ray Gesteland, Human Genetics. Proteasome and ribosome decoding.
  • Kent Golic, Biology. Chromosome structure-function.
  • Sandra Hasstedt, Human Genetics. Genetic epidemiology.
  • Lynn Jorde, Human Genetics. Human population genetics.
  • Jerry Kaplan, Pathology. Iron metabolism; intracellular organelle.
  • Jean-Marc Lalouel, Human Genetics. Human genetics.
  • Mark Leppert, Human Genetics. Human genetics.
  • Wayne Potts, Biology. Immunogenetics.
  • Shige Sakonju, Human Genetics. Regulation of gene expression.
  • Michael Shapiro, Biology. Evolutionary developmental genetics.
  • Mark Yandell, Human Genetics. Bioinformatics; comparative genomics.
  • Microbiology/Immunology
  • Sherwood Casjens, Pathology. Bacteriophage molecular genetics.
  • Ray Daynes, Pathology. Molecular immunology; regulation.
  • Robert Fujinami, Pathology. Viral pathogenesis/autoimmunity.
  • Lorise Gahring, Pathology. Neuroimmune interactions.
  • Wai Mun Huang, Pathology. Nucleic acid enzymology.
  • Peter Jensen, Pathology. Antigen preservation.
  • Diane McVey-Ward, Pathology. Receptor-mediated endocytosis.
  • Matthew Mulvey, Pathology. Bacterial pathogenesis.
  • Vicente Planelles, Pathology. HIV-1 pathogenesis.
  • Gerald Spangrude, Pathology. Stem cell biology.
  • Nikolaus Trede, Oncological Sciences. Disease-modeling zebrafish.
  • Janis Weis, Pathology. Lyme arthritis.
  • John Weis, Pathology. Genetics of immune response.
  • Matthew Williams, Pathology. Immunologic memory.
  • Stan Williams, Biology. Prokaryotic circadian biology.
  • Neurobiology Interest Group
  • Michael Bastiani, Biology. Neural development and regeneration.
  • Chi-Bin Chien, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Zebrafish axon guidance.
  • Maureen Condic, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Sensory neural development.
  • Erik Jorgensen, Biology. Genetic analysis/synaptic transmission.
  • Andres Villu Maricq, Biology. Synaptic function.
  • Baldomera (Toto) Olivera, Biology. Molecular neurobiology; conotoxins.
  • Scott Rogers, Neurobiology and Anatomy. Neurobiology.
  • Gary Rose, Biology. Neural mechanisms of behavior.
  • Aloisia Schmid, Human Genetics. Drosophila disease models.

Correspondence and Information


University of Utah
Brad Cairns, Director
Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Molecular Biology
533 EIHG Room 1400
15 North 2030 East
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
Telephone: 801-581-5207
Fax: 801-585-2465
Email: tami.brunson@genetics.utah.edu