Program in Structural and Computational Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas
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Baylor College of Medicine - Program in Structural and Computational Biology and Molecular Biophysics - Overview
Structural and Computational Biology and Molecular Biophysics at BCM
The renowned Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is ranked in the top 10 percent of American graduate schools by "U.S. News and World Report." BCM's program in structural and computational biology and molecular biophysics (SCBMB) offers students a unique inter-institutional program in computational biology with a focus on issues including drug and inhibitor design, electron and opital microscopy, ion channel biophysics, molecular simulations, functional proteomics, genomics, informatics, nanobiology, protein chrystallography, protein design and engineering, and computational and theoretical neurosciences.
The program's courses and research labs are run by faculty members from within the Baylor College of Medicine, as well as from leading regional institutions including Rice University, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the University of Texas at Houston Health Science Center, the University of Houston, and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
Affiliated with Top Research Facilities
Due to the program's affiliation with other institutions, students can take advantage of outstanding research facilities at centers around Houston.
Research partners that are affiliated with the SCBMB program include the W.M. Keck Center for Computational and Structural Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Human Genome Sequencing Center, National Center for Macromolecular Imaging, Institute for Molecular Design, Center for Research on Parallel Computation, Bioinformatics Research Laboratory, Human Neuroimaging Laboratory, Center for Protein Folding Machinery, and the Gulf Coast Consortia.
Rigorous Core Curriculum and Research Rotations
The SCBMB program awards a Doctor in Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree, with a first-year core curriculum designed to prepare undergraduate students with backgrounds in areas such as chemistry, physics, computer science, or engineering in the specialized areas of research and structural and computational biology.
In addition to courses at the Baylor College of Medicine, students can also take courses at Rice University, the University of Houston and University of Texas at Houston Health Science Center.
First-year students also participate in a minimum of 3 one-term research rotations before selecting an area of dissertation research.
Research Opportunities in the SCBMB Program
Research opportunities in the SCBMB program focus on several key areas of specialty: computational biology, structural biology, genomics, biophysics, proteomics, bioengineering, and neuroscience.
Labs investigate issues at the molecular level, seeking solutions that can ultimately improve approaches to disease understanding, treatment, and prevention.
The mission of one research lab, for instance, is the development of nanotechnology-based chips and particles (proteomic nanochips) to sort out blood proteins and molecules in order to improve the early detection of cancer and coronary heart disease.
Another lab is investigating viruses that infect distinct types of cells in order to learn more about the molecular biology of cell types in the gastrointestinal tract.
In the field of genomics, a lab is working to produce a draft sequence of the rat genome and to sequence the genomes of other important organisms, such as various bacteria that cause serious infections.
Issues pursued in other research labs have included transcriptional analyses at the single cell level, electron cryomicroscopy, computation of shape and motion in biology, and computer-assisted drug design.
Seminars and Discussion Groups Allow for Interaction
In addition to supporting state-of-the-art research labs, the SCBMB program and its affiliate research centers each sponsor a host of activities, including symposia, workshops, seminars, and informal discussion groups in which graduate students can interact with faculty and outside experts and learn more about ongoing research activities.
The structural and computational biology and molecular biophysics program presents a seminar series, and graduate students run a journal club.
Tuition Waived for All SCBMB Students
Students in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine have the highly beneficial advantage of paying no tuition. Students receive a generous, highly competitive stipend.
The SCBMB program is a member of the Gulf Coast Consortia which oversees several training grants: the National Library of Medicine Computational Biology and Medicine Training Program (NLM), the Computational and Structural Biology in Biodefense Training Program (CSBB), the Houston Area Molecular Biophysics Predoctoral (Ph.D.) Training Program (HAMBP), the Nanobiology Training Program (NBTP), the W.M. Keck Center for Virus Imaging Training Program (KVI), and the Training in Biomedical Discovery from Large Scale Data Sets (BMDTP).
Through BCM's partnership with the Gulf Coast Consortia students have numerous options in terms of funding.
Admissions
While there are no formal undergraduate course requirements for admission, classes in biology (with laboratory), chemistry, mathematics, and physics provide a helpful background for admission.
Applicants to the SCBMB program at Baylor College of Medicine should have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and GRE scores near the 70th percentile. Students have the opportunity to share additional information about themselves in two short essays.
The program also requires 3 letters of recommendation.
College is Southwest's Sole Private Medical School
The Baylor College of Medicine is based in Houston at the Texas Medical Center, a 1,000-acre complex of 49 independent institutions. The college is the only private medical school in the greater Southwest, dating back to 1900, when it was founded as the University of Dallas Medical Department.
The college later formed an alliance with Baylor University, but separated with the university in 1969 to become an independent institution. It now has affiliations with 8 teaching hospitals, each with a high reputation for excellence.