Cell Biology Training Track

Mission

Cell Biology is a multifaceted and vibrant discipline that combines techniques in molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics to study the fundamental unit of life: the cells that make up all living organisms.  Research interests of the faculty in the Cell Biology Training Track range from the cell division cycle, signal transduction, cytoskeleton, organelle biogenesis and dynamics, to stem cell biology and communications between neurons and cells in the immune system.  Students will receive training in these areas through participation in advanced courses, journal clubs, works-in-progress seminars, and research in the laboratory.

Requirements

Courses:
All students are required to take 9 units of classes by the end of their first year in the Programs (second year in DBS).  This includes 3 Units of track specific courses, 3 Units of courses from within the Cell Regulation or Biological Chemistry Programs, and 3 Units of elective courses.  A required course for the Cell Biology Track is Directed Study: Current Topics in Cell Biology (1.5 units).  Students are also highly recommended to take Optical Microscopy for Biomedical Research (1.5 units), although enrollment in this course may be limited.  For this reason the remaining track specific coursework may be fulfilled with the approval of the track director by another course with cell biology.  

Works-in-Progress (WIPs):
All students are expected to participate in a weekly WIPs, and will present their on-going research once a year.  Each Track has its own WIP.  WIPs are designed to provide a format in which students are encouraged to think critically about their own research and how it relates to a broader area of Biology.  Faculty within the Track are strongly encouraged to attend.  The WIP for the Cell Biology Training Track meets on Fridays at noon in K2.600. 

Journal Club:
All students are expected to participate in a weekly Journal Club.  These Journal Clubs will be focused around particular topics and will be led by faculty within the Programs.  The Cell Regulation and Biological Chemistry programs jointly sponsor 5-7 Journal Clubs each semester, which will be open to all students in both programs.  Current and upcoming Journal Clubs, advisors and times can be found by clicking here.

Dissertation Committees:
The requirement for the Dissertation Committee is the same throughout all Tracks.

Qualifying Exam:
The requirement for the Qualifying Exam is the same throughout all Tracks. Students are expected to pass their Qualifying Exam by June of their first year in the Programs (second year in DBS).

Faculty

Track Chair:  Joel Goodman

Joseph Albanesi -- Mechanisms of membrane fusion; Role of lipids in membrane trafficking; Membrane vesiculation of dynamin.

Richard Anderson -- Compartmentalization of signal transduction by caveolae and coated pits.

Michael Brown -- Regulation of gene expression; cell-surface receptor function; genetics and biochemistry of lipoprotein and cholesterol metabolism.

Beatriz M.A. Fontoura -- Role of nuclear transport factors in interphase and mitosis: from viral pathogenesis to cell division.

Joel Goodman -- Intracellular sorting of newly synthesized proteins; organelle biogenesis and membrane structure and function; the yeast peroxisome as a model of organellar assembly.

Jer-Tsong (J.T.) Hsieh -- Human cancer gene therapy; signaling defects in urogenital cancers.

Michael Roth -- Recognition and sorting of cell-surface glycoproteins.

Joachim Seemann -- Biogenesis of the Golgi apparatus.

William Snell -- Cell-cell interactions and signal transduction during fertilization in Chlamydomonas; cellular and molecular mechanisms of cell-cell fusion.

Christoph Wuelfing -- Regulation of cytoskeletal rearrangements during T lymphocyte activation.

Helen Yin -- Mechanisms for signal transduction through the actin cytoskeleton.

Hui Zou -- Molecular circuitries that ensure a timely and equal separation of chromosomes into the forming daughter cells; vertebrate mechanisms of chromatid cohesion and separation; unequal division of cytoplasmic content during asymmetric cell divisions.