This training program was designed to prepare predoctoral students for careers in the area of genetics. The program is based in the Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics at Oregon Health Sciences University, and has a training faculty of 34 representing the Departments of Molecular and Medical Genetics, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Cell and Developmental Biology. The training faculty provides research opportunities in molecular, cellular, medical, developmental, population and quantitative genetics, biochemistry, cell and developmental biology. The training faculty's research areas encompass a broad range of research approaches some of which include gene isolation, production of animal models for human disease, techniques for studying gene expression, bioinformatics as well as quantitative and population based approaches for the study of human genetic disease. The students entering the Program in Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (PMCB) are selected based on performance as undergraduates, letters of recommendation, GRE scores, research experience and their commitment to a career in genetics research. During the first and second years, students take required and elective courses in eukaryotic genetics, prokaryotic genetics, cancer biology and genetics, biochemistry, and molecular, cellular and developmental biology. Included in the first and second years are student seminar courses in which students receive training and experience in the """"""""journal club"""""""" presentation of scientific information. Also during the first year, students participate in rotations in three """"""""PMCB"""""""" laboratories to provide students with initial experience in graduate level research, and to identify a mentor and a department for the thesis research requirement of the Ph.D. degree. Students also participate in other activities such as departmental seminars, Genetics Grand Rounds and Departmental and topic-driven journal clubs. In addition, students have access to the clinical labs that engage in diagnosis of and counseling on a variety of human genetic disorders. After choosing an advisor and passing the qualifying exam students become eligible for support from the training grant. The variety of opportunities available to the students allows the program to meet the goal of preparing young investigators for careers in biomedical research with heavy emphasis on the study of normal and abnormal genetic mechanisms.
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