Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology Graduate Program

Subject abbreviation: CMDB College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Morris F. Maduro, Ph.D., Director Graduate Program, 1140 Batchelor Hall

• (800) 735-0717 or (951) 827-7378

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) 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) Hailing Jin, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and Microbiology) Howard Judelson, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and Microbiology) Isgouhi Kaloshian, Ph.D. (Nematology) Paul Larsen, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) Karine G. Le Roch, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience) Xuan Liu, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) David Lo, Ph.D., M.D. (School of Medicine) Wenbo Ma, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and Microbiology) Morris F. Maduro, Ph.D. (Biology) Manuela Martins-Green, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience) Dmitri Maslov, Ph.D. (Biology) Ashok Mulchandani, Ph.D. (Chemical Engineering) Eugene Nothnagel, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Michael Pirrung, Ph.D. President’s Chair (Chemistry) Alexander Raikhel (Entomology) 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) Patricia S. Springer, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology Graduate Program / 152 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) Bradley Hyman, Ph.D. (Biology) Thomas Miller, Ph.D. (Entomology) Anthony W. Norman, Ph.D. (Biochemistry/School of Medicine) Natasha Raikhel, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Daniel Straus, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Associate Professors Jeffrey B. Bachant, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience) Djurdjica Coss, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Margarita Currás-Collazo, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience) Anupama Dahanukar, Ph.D. (Entomology) Thomas Eulgem, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Todd Fiacco, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience) Martin Garcia-Castro, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Venugopala Reddy Gonehal, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Jiayu Liao, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Huinan Liu, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Christian Lytle, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Ernest Martinez, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) David Nelson, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Nicole zur Nieden, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience) 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 Omar Akbari, Ph.D. (Entomology) Emma Aronson, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and Microbiology) Meng Chen, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Science) Nicholas V. DiPatrizio, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Jun-Hyeong Cho, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience) Adler Dillman, Ph.D. (Nematology) Kaustabh Ghosh, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Juan Pablo Giraldo, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Science) Weifeng Gu, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience) Rong Hai, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and Microbiology) Sachiko Haga-Yamanaka, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience) Ansel Hsiao, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and Microbiology) Ted Karginov, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience) Amy Litt, Ph.D.(Botany and Plant Sciences) Kerry Mauck, Ph.D. (Entomology) Meera Nair, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Dawn H. Nagel, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Carolyn Rasmussen, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Martín Riccomagno, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience) Jefferson Perry, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) Jaimie Van Norman, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Naoki Yamanaka, Ph.D. (Entomology) Sika Zheng, Ph.D. (School of Medicine)

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)

• 5. GDIV 403 Research and Scholarship Ethics

(1 unit; may be taken any time prior to gradu- ation)

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 Biol- ogy 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 the following activities:

• 1) Responsible conduction of research: One-

time mandatory enrollment in GDIV 403

Research and Scholarship Ethics (1 unit; may be taken any time prior to graduation).

• 2) Teaching: One-time mandatory orientation in

the Teaching Assistant Development Program administered through Graduate Division (must be fulfilled prior to classroom instruction). CMDB requires two quarters of TA teaching.

• 3) Safety training: Mandatory laboratory safety

training administered through Environmental Health and Safety. Additional training may be mandated for some research activities.

• 4) Presentations, scientific interactions

and intellectual development: Enrollment each quarter in CMDB 257 Seminar in Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology. Part of the professional development in this course involves luncheon meetings between the speakers and students following the seminar. CMDB also offers opportunities for participation and presentation in intra-mural research seminars.

• 5) Research Training: Individual research

training in major professor laboratories is associated with enrollment in CMDB 250, 153 / Programs and Courses

which encompasses laboratory journal clubs and lab meetings, as well as CMDB 297 and CMDB 299 research units. Students are also required to schedule an Annual Research Progress Evaluation (ARPE) with their guidance or dissertation committee to monitor ongoing professional development.

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