Reproductive Biology

Reproductive Biology was founded in 2004 as an interdepartmental Graduate Program. The basic science and clinical faculty are drawn from 10 different Departments and Divisions, allowing students to take an integrated, translational, multidisciplinary approach to the study of reproductive biology and pathophysiology. Students in the Reproductive Biology Track have opportunities to investigate research areas including:

• Signal transduction and transcriptional regulation
• Reproductive Endocrinology and Metabolism
• Neuroendocrinology
• Breast, Ovarian and Uterine cancers
• Immunology
• Epidemiology
• Complications of Pregnancy
• Development and function of the reproductive system
• Mammary gland development and lactation
• Placental development and function
• Obesity and fetal developmental programming

Cellular Physiology

Training in Cellular Physiology prepares graduate PhD students for independent careers in biomedical research through grounding in the fundamental principles of physiology and biophysics, and their application to important problems of cellular systems regulation. Students in the Cellular Physiology track have a broad array of research projects from which to choose, and access to an equally broad assortment of cutting edge techniques and instrumentation for their projects, including advanced electrophysiology, high-resolution imaging, and novel biochemical (including photochemical) tools.

Research projects in Cellular Physiology cover problems such as recycling of synaptic vesicles, transduction and modulation of signals in the olfactory bulb, mechanisms of sound localization in mammals, the role of glia and spontaneous secretion of transmitter in the brain, characterization of sodium channel isoforms in excitable cells, regulation of potassium channel expression during development, excitation-contraction coupling, molecular physiology of cardiac pacemaking, processing of sound information in the auditory brainstem, neurophysiology of making decision and initiating actions, and neurophysiology of the cerebellum.

Molecular Nutrition and Metabolic Systems

Research in molecular nutrition and metabolic systems underpins advances in many areas of medicine and physiology, and is essential for understanding complex diseases and disorders of human biology, such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Students in the Molecular Nutrition and Metabolic Systems (MNMS) track have opportunities to investigate how nutrients are metabolized by cells, organs and higher systems, and how defects in metabolic systems contribute to human disease.

Research projects in the MNMS track employ state of the art techniques in metabolism, cell and molecular biology, imaging, genomics and proteomics that provide students with capabilities of generating sophisticated mechanistic insight into metabolic disorders and disease processes. Students that successfully complete MNMS training and research programs are prepared for independent careers in biomedical research in academic, industry and government laboratories.

Cardiovascular/Pulmonary/Renal/GI Physiology

Cardiovascular/Pulmonary/Renal/GI Physiology research seeks to uncover mechanisms, and integrating principals, regulating fundamental cardiac, pulmonary, renal, and GI systems. Investigators in this track pursue mechanistic research related to how hormones, metabolism, ion channel properties, exercise, and diseases, regulate, or disrupt, multiple physiological systems.

Research projects in this track focus on serious human health problems related to cardiac function, pulmonary disorders, renal abnormalities, endothelial biology, obesity, and diabetes. These projects employs cutting-edge molecular biology, imaging, genomics, ion channel and modeling approaches in cellular, organ, and higher-order experimental systems. Students in this track will have opportunities to integrate many of these experimental approaches in the pursuit of understanding cardiac, pulmonary, renal, and GI systems biology.