| Major in Pathology changed to Cellular and Molecular Pathology Effective fall 2006 (Online update 5/30/07) |
College: School of Medicine and Public Health
Designation: Department
Major: Cellular and Molecular Pathology
Degrees Offered: M.S., Ph.D.
Other: Ph.D. Minor
Faculty: Professors Hart (chair), Allen-Hoffmann, Bresnick, Burlingham, Ehrmeyer, Fabry, Greenspan, Griep, Hardin, Klein, Malter, Messing, Mosher, Oberley, Peters, Rapraeger, Sandor, Sondel, Splitter, Watkins, Westgard; Associate Professors Boekhoff-Falk, Downs, Friedl, Huttenlocher, Lyons, Sun, Suresh; Assistant Professors Alexander, Atwood, Coon, Fritsch, Jaume, Lee, O'Connor, Ranheim, Seroogy, Sheehan, Sheibani, Slukvin, Talaat, Zhong
The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine offers the doctor of philosophy in cellular and molecular pathology. (Students are accepted only for the Ph.D. program; the master of science degree is awarded only under special circumstances.) The department also offers a capstone certificate in laboratory quality management for students not currently enrolled in a UW-Madison graduate degree program. Capstone certificate applicants are admitted as Special students through the Division of Continuing Studies; see www.dcs.wisc.edu/capstone.
The central focus of the cellular and molecular pathology program is on understanding the mechanisms of human disease at the cellular and molecular levels. Research efforts in the program span four major focus areas: cancer biology, immunology, extracellular matrix, and neuroscience. Course work includes both a basic core consisting of an introduction to pathology and an in-depth study of cellular and molecular mechanisms, including detailed analysis of current literature. This core is combined with electives tailored to the student's primary interests. Research, under the direction of a major professor, begins during the first year of graduate study and culminates in the thesis. New graduate students are encouraged to rotate through three laboratories before deciding on their area of interest.
Extramural funding currently supports research programs in inflammation and wound healing; virology and AIDS; tumor biology and mechanisms of carcinogenesis; aging, cytokines, immunology, vascular biology, and growth factors such as the FGFs and TGF-beta; the biology of the extracellular matrix and cell adhesion mechanisms; and transcriptional and posttranscriptional mechanisms of gene regulation. These research programs provide students with the opportunity to pursue projects relevant to understanding the causes of human disease while receiving training in modern cellular and molecular biology, including gene isolation and sequencing, transfections with cDNA constructs, protein isolation and purification, the biochemistry of protein-nucleic acid and protein-protein binding and assembly, intracellular protein sorting, receptor signaling mechanisms, immunochemical techniques, advanced flow cytometry and sorting, and confocal and electron microscopy. A detailed description of faculty research interests may be obtained by contacting the department or accessing the Cellular and Molecular Pathology Graduate Training or Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Web sites.
For more information: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 6152 Medical Sciences Center, 1300 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706; 608/262-2665; fax 608/265-8787; gradinfo@pathology.wisc.edu; www.pathology.wisc.edu/gradprogram.