Fall Semester

The goals of this course are to familiarize graduate students with important principles and key concepts in contemporary molecular and cellular biology and to familiarize students with the experimental techniques utilized to test specific hypotheses. These goals will be achieved through formal lectures on specific topics, in-class discussions of problem sets, regular homework assignments, and unit exams. This course is delivered in a flipped classroom framework. 

This course provides opportunity to explore molecular and cellular biology literature through discussion of journal articles with topics that parallel subjects discussed in BMED:5207 Principles of Molecular & Cellular Biology. The course also features didactic instruction on molecular and cell biology methods to deepen students understanding of these techniques. 

This course focuses on a range of professional development opportunities for first year graduate students. Faculty seminars feature research and career retrospective presentations from local and visiting professors, exposing students to a variety of career pathways for biomedical scientists. Workshop sessions provide direct instruction on scientific writing and oral presentation skills. Students also present their research in short talks and receive detailed feedback from course faculty and peers.

Students will participate in three (3) lab rotations (fall, winter, and spring) in the laboratories of BSP faculty members beginning the first week of the fall semester and ending with the last week of the Spring semester. In the fall semester, students will prepare a research rotation report in manuscript format for their fall rotation. In the spring semester, students will prepare two (2) research rotation reports in manuscript format for their winter and spring rotations.

Overview of theory of experimental design and data analysis in biological sciences; types of analyses available for common types of data generated in biomedical sciences; review of statistical methods; basic coverage of mathematical computations involved in various analytical tests.

Application of statistical techniques to biological data including descriptive statistics, probability and distributions, sampling distributions, nonparametric methods, hypothesis tests, confidence intervals, analysis of categorical data, and simple linear regression; designed for non-biostatistics majors and M.P.H. students.

BSP students may opt to enroll in elective courses to complement their core requirements. For a full list of available electives, students should contact their BSP Advisor.

Spring Semester

Students will choose one of the following core courses:

PATH:5270 Pathogenesis of Major Human Diseases

FRRB:7001 Molecular and Cellular Biology of Cancer

FRRB:7000 Redox Biology and Medicine

PCOL:5130 Basic Concepts in Pharmacology

Basic and advanced scientific techniques used to integrate biological questions in molecular and translational medicine.

This one credit hour course will focus on concepts and tools behind conducting modern scientific inquiries in a rigorous and reproducible manner.  This course will address a number of issues, presented by experts in a given area, through lecture and discussion sessions, and will introduce first year Biomedical Science Graduate Program students to Rigor and Reproducibility in Biomedical Science.

This course focuses on a range of professional development opportunities for first year graduate students. Faculty seminars feature research and career retrospective presentations from local and visiting professors, exposing students to a variety of career pathways for biomedical scientists. Workshop sessions provide direct instruction on scientific writing and oral presentation skills. Students also present their research in short talks and receive detailed feedback from course faculty and peers.

Students will participate in three (3) lab rotations (fall, winter, and spring) in the laboratories of BSP faculty members beginning the first week of the fall semester and ending with the last week of the Spring semester. In the fall semester, students will prepare a research rotation report in manuscript format for their fall rotation. In the spring semester, students will prepare two (2) research rotation reports in manuscript format for their winter and spring rotations.

BSP students may opt to enroll in elective courses to complement their core requirements. For a full list of available electives, students should contact their BSP Advisor.

2024-2025 Research Rotation Calendar

Fall Rotation: August 26 - November 15

Winter Rotation: November 18 - February 14

Spring Rotation: February 17 - May 9