GRADUATE STUDIES
Professors: Scott Holmes, Ishita Mukerji, Donald B. Oliver
Associate Professors: Michael McAlear, Robert Lane (Chair), Amy MacQueen, Rich Olson
Associated Faculty in Biophysics: Joseph Coolon, Candice Etson, David Langley, Brian Northrop, Alison O'Neil, Irina M. Russu, Colin Smith, Francis Starr, Erika Taylor, Michael Weir
THE PROGRAM
The MB&B department supports a graduate program with emphasis in molecular genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry and molecular biophysics. The MB&B graduate program is designed to lead to the degree of doctor of philosophy. A master of arts degree is awarded only under special circumstances. There are currently 20 graduate students in the department, and the graduate program is an integral part of the departmental offerings. Graduate students serve as teaching assistants in undergraduate courses, generally during their first two years. The emphasis of the program is on an intensive research experience culminating in a dessertation. The program of study also includes a series of courses covering the major areas of molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics; journal clubs in which current research is discussed in an informal setting; practica designed to introduce first-year students to the research interests of the faculty; and several seminar series in which either graduate students or distinguished outside speakers participate. The low student-faculty ratio (2.5:1) allows programs to be individually designed and ensures close contact between the student and the faculty.
CONCENTRATION IN MOLECULAR BIOPHYSICS
The MB&B Department participates in an interdisciplinary program of graduate study in molecular biophysics with the departments of Chemistry, Biology, and Physics. The program provides a course of study and research that overlaps the disciplinary boundaries of chemistry, physics, biology, and molecular biology and is designed for students with an undergraduate background in any one of these areas. Students in the program are enrolled in one of the participating departments and fulfill canonical requirements of the department. In addition, they take advanced courses in molecular biophysics and pursue dissertation research with one of the faculty in the program. Centerpieces of the program are the weekly interdepartmental journal club in molecular biophysics and an annual off-campus research retreat. Both activities bring together students, research associates, and faculty from all participating departments and foster interdisciplinary collaborative projects.
The program is affiliated with interest groups such as the New York Structural Biology (NYSB) and the New York Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (NYBCB) groups. All students are encouraged to join and attend national meetings of the Biophysical Society.
Students interested in this program may indicate their interest on the application for admission to the Chemistry, MB&B, Physics, or Biology departments.
RESEARCH INTERESTS OF THE DEPARTMENT
Control of DNA replication; mechanism of protein secretion; global regulation of ribosomal biogenesis in the yeast S.cerevisiae; mechanisms of DNA replication and repair; protein-protein and protein-nucleic-acid interactions; the structural dynamics of nucleic acids and proteins; chromosome structure and gene expression; UV resonance Raman spectroscopy of biological macromolecules; biological assembly mechanisms; protein fiber formation in disease; enzyme mechanisms; the olfactory system and new frontiers in genome research; and elucidation of membrane protein function by X-ray crystallography.