The discipline-based doctoral programs in Biochemistry, Cellular & Structural Biology, Microbiology & Immunology, Pharmacology, and Physiology have evolved into the Integrated Multidisciplinary Graduate Program (IMGP). The IMGP reflects contemporary, interdisciplinary advanced education and scientific research based on fundamental principles in the biomedical sciences. Effective with admission for Fall 2008, prospective students apply to the IMGP rather than to the former individual, discipline-based doctoral programs.
The IMGP is currently composed of eleven multidisciplinary tracks, which address the most significant training areas in biomedicine. These thematic tracks have been aligned with the major research foci of the faculty in the institution. The eleven tracks are:
Biology of Aging
Cancer Biology
Cell and Molecular Biology
Genetics, Genomics, and Development
Membrane Biology and Cell Signaling
Metabolism and Metabolic Disorders
Microbiology and Immunology
Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry
Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology
Neuroscience
Pharmacology
Students are enrolled "undifferentiated" into the IMGP, that is, without admission into a specific track. All entering students take an interdisciplinary core course in Fundamentals of Biomedical Sciences and participate in laboratory rotations in the first semester. Students may choose to do rotations and their eventual dissertation research in laboratories of over 200 faculty members. In the second semester, students select a specific track and a dissertation supervising professor for further training through course work and research. Also, in the second semester, students will enroll in track-specific courses and electives and in Ethics in Research. The curriculum is interdisciplinary in nature such that students in a particular track may take courses in other tracks. In the second year, students continue taking track-specific electives, participating in journal clubs and seminars, and engaging in research. Major milestones are the advancement to PhD candidacy exam and formal approval of a dissertation supervising committee. Students register for a minimum of 9 semester credits in the fall and spring semesters and 6 credit hours in the summer term.
