Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology Graduate Program

Subject abbreviation: CMDB College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Jeffrey B. Bachant, Ph.D., Director Graduate Program, 1140 Batchelor Hall

• (800) 735-0717 or (951) 827-5621

cmdb.ucr.edu

Graduate Program Faculty

Professors

Michael Adams, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience/Entomology) Peter W. Atkinson, Ph.D. (Entomology) Julia Bailey-Serres, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant

Sciences) Maksim Bazhenov, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Katherine Borkovich, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and

Microbiology) Richard Cardullo, Ph.D. (Biology) Monica J. Carson, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Xuemei Chen, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Shou-Wei Ding, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and

Microbiology) Iryna M. Ethell, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Brian Federici, Ph.D. (Entomology) Sarjeet S. Gill, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Bradley Hyman, Ph.D. (Biology) Hailing Jin, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and

Microbiology) Howard Judelson, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and

Microbiology) Isgouhi Kaloshian, Ph.D. (Nematology) Karine G. Le Roch, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Xuan Liu, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) David Lo, Ph.D., M.D. (School of Medicine) Manuela Martins-Green, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Dmitri Maslov, Ph.D. (Biology) Ashok Mulchandani, Ph.D. (Chemistry) Eugene Nothnagel, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant

Sciences) Michael Pirrung, Ph.D. President’s Chair

(Chemistry) Alexander Raikhel (Entomology) Natasha Raikhel (Botany and Plant Sciences) A.L.N. Rao, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and

Microbiology) Neal L. Schiller, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Frances Sladek, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Mark Springer, Ph.D. (Biology) Patricia S. Springer, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant

Sciences) Prudence Talbot, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Linda L. Walling, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant

Sciences) Yinsheng Wang, Ph.D. (Chemistry) Susan Wessler, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Shizhong Xu, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Zhenbiao Yang, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Raphael Zidovetzki, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Professors Emeriti

Leah Haimo, Ph.D. (Biology) Anthony W. Norman, Ph.D. (Biochemistry/School

of Medicine) Daniel Straus, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Associate Professors

Jeffrey B. Bachant, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Margarita Currás-Collazo, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Anupama Dahanukar, Ph.D. (Entomology) Kathryn DeFea, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Thomas Eulgem, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant

Sciences) Martin Garcia-Castro, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Venugopala Gonehal, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant

Sciences) Paul Larsen, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) Jiayu Liao, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Christian Lytle, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Wenbo Ma, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and

Microbiology) Morris F. Maduro, Ph.D. (Biology) Ernest Martinez, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) Ilhem Messaoudi, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) James Ng, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and

Microbiology) Constance I. Nugent, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Andre Obenaus, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Anandasankar Ray, Ph.D. (Entomology) Emma Wilson, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Assistant Professors

Huiwang Ai, Ph.D. (Chemistry) Emma Aronson, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and

Microbiology) Djurdjica Coss, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Adler Dillman, Ph.D. (Nematology) Todd Fiacco, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Kaustabh Ghosh, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Ted Karginov, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Huinan Liu, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Julia Lyubovitsky, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Meera Nair, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Carolyn Rasmussen, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant

Sciences) Martín Riccomagno, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience) Jaimie Van Norman, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant

Sciences) Naoki Yamanaka, Ph.D. (Entomology) Sika Zheng, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Nicole zur Nieden, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and

Neuroscience)

The Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology Graduate Program is an interdepartmental program offering M.S. and Ph.D. degrees to students seeking advanced training in these disciplines. The program focuses on the bridge between basic and applied research and on the interface between cell, molecular, and developmental biology. Participating faculty are drawn from numerous biological sciences departments whose research interests in cell, molecular, and developmental biology span biomedical to agricultural problems, and students in the program benefit from unique training opportunities.

Students seeking admission into the program should meet all general requirements of the Graduate Division as printed in the Graduate Studies section of this catalog.

The Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology program offers the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology.

Admission Applicants should have adequate undergraduate course work in chemistry (two years), physics (one year), calculus (one year), statistics (one course), biochemistry (one course), and biology (two years, including a course in genetics and two courses among cell, molecular, or developmental biology). Applicants with strong academic records but with deficiencies in preparation for graduate training may be admitted and must rectify undergraduate deficiencies early in the first two years of residence. Applicants must submit GRE General Test scores (verbal, quantitative and analytical).

Course Work All students must complete the following core of course work:

1.CMDB 203

2.One graduate-level course in cell biology

(BIOL 200/CMDB 200, BPSC 237, or NRSC 200A/PSYC 200A)

• 3. One graduate-level course in molecular

biology (BIOL 201/CMDB 201, BCH 211, BPSC 231/BCH 231, BMSC 202, or NRSC 200B/PSYC 200B)

• 4. One graduate-level course in developmental

biology (BPSC 232, CMDB 202)

Each student must enroll in the program seminars (CMDB 257, CMDB 258) each time they are offered. Upon entry into the program, each student meets with a guidance committee, which recommends a course of study commensurate with the student’s interests and background.

The Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology program offers an M.S. degree.

Plan I (Thesis) Students complete the course work above, enroll in one graduate seminar course in cell, molecular, or developmental biology (BCH 230(E-Z), BIOL 281(E-Z)/ CMDB 281(E-Z), BPSC 240, BCH 289/BIOL 289/NRSC 289/PSYC 289), and undertake a research project leading to a thesis.

Each student must complete 36 units of course work, of which at least 24 units must be in the graduate series (200 level) in the biological sciences. No more than 12 units in courses numbered 290-299 may be taken to fulfill the 24-unit requirement. Candidates for the M.S. degree must defend their thesis at a public oral presentation.

Normative Time to Degree Two years

The Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology program offers a Ph.D. degree.

Degree Requirements

• 1. Completion of the course work listed above

• 2. One additional graduate course in cell,

molecular, and developmental biology

3.One graduate seminar course in cell,

molecular, or developmental biology (BCH 230 (E-Z), BIOL 281 (E-Z)/CMDB 281 (E-Z), BPSC 240, BCH 289/BIOL 289/CHEM 289/ ENTM 289/NRSC 289/PSYC 289)

• 4. A research project leading to a dissertation

• 5. Oral public defense of dissertation

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations Doctoral students are advanced to candidacy following successful completion of written and oral qualifying examinations. Students write a proposal detailing the rationale, specific aims, and approaches to be undertaken for their proposed dissertation research prior to taking the oral qualifying examination.

Professional Development Training Ph.D. graduate students fulfill their professional development training requirement through enrollment in CMDB 257.

Dissertation Candidates must successfully defend their dissertation research in a public oral presentation.

Teaching Requirement Students must fulfill a two-quarter teaching requirement.

There is a high demand in industry and academia for scientists with training in cell, molecular, and developmental biology. Students matriculating from the program are well trained in this field and successfully obtain positions in biotechnology, including biomedical and agricultural industries, and at colleges and universities nationwide.

Normative Time to Degree Five years