Medical Biology
About the Program
The MEDB program caters to MD/Ph.D. students, clinician scientists and PIBBS students interested in but not limited to the following fields: Immunology (including Cancer Immunology), Virology (including Cancer Virology), Microbiology, Physiology, and Pathology (Examples: Diabetes, Obesity, Autoimmunity, Infectious diseases, Gastro-Intestinal and Liver diseases, Heart and Lung diseases, Hypertension, Central Nervous System diseases, etc.).
W. Martin Kast, Ph.D.
Program Chair
MEDB Program Requirements
Degree Unit Requirement: 60 units
PIBBS Requirement: Completion of PIBBS required core curriculum (29 units)
Required MEDB Courses:
- INTD 574 – Systems Biology and Disease Seminar (1 unit) – every fall and spring semester
- MEDB 790 – Research (varies)
- MEDB 794ab – Doctoral Dissertation (at least 4 units)
Complete 8 units from the following:
- INTD 504 – Molecular Biology of Cancer (4 units)
- INTD 522 – Infection and Host Responses (4 unit)
- INTD 549 – Protein Chemistry Structure and Function (4 units)
- INTD 550 – Introduction to Pathology (4 units)
- INTD 551 – Pathobiology of Disease (4 units)
- INTD 572 – Systems Physiology and Disease I (4 units)
- INTD 573 – Systems Physiology and Disease II (4 units)
- Other courses may be allowed with consultation from the Director if they benefit the student’s research project
Qualifying Exam:
Students must pass both the written and oral portions of the qualifying exam during the second year of study. The written portion will require students to write a research grant proposal, in a format modeled after an NIH F31 fellowship application. The oral defense portion will include both a formal presentation of the grant proposal, as well as an open forum in which the guidance committee asks general questions related to the student’s research.
Dissertation:
Each student’s research is reported in a dissertation written under the guidance of the student’s mentor and the dissertation committee. The dissertation must demonstrate the student’s capacity for independent research, scholarly achievement and technical mastery of a specific field.
