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. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Peter W. Atkinson, Ph.D. (Entomology) Julia Bailey-Serres, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Katherine Borkovich, Ph.D. (Microbiology and Plant Pathology) Richard Cardullo, Ph.D. (Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology) Monica J. Carson, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Xuemei Chen, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Margarita Currás-Collazo, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Shou-Wei Ding, Ph.D. (Microbiology and Plant Pathology) Iryna M. Ethell, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Thomas Eulgem, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Brian Federici, Ph.D. (Professor of the Graduate Division) Sarjeet S. Gill, Ph.D. (Professor of the Graduate Division) Venugopala Reddy Gonehal, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Hailing Jin, Ph.D. (Microbiology and Plant Pathology) Howard Judelson, Ph.D. (Microbiology and Plant Pathology) Isgouhi Kaloshian, Ph.D. (Nematology) Paul Larsen, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) Karine G. Le Roch, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Huinan Liu, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Xuan Liu, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) David Lo, Ph.D., M.D. (School of Medicine) Morris F. Maduro, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Manuela Martins-Green, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Ernest Martinez, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) Dmitri Maslov, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Ashok Mulchandani, Ph.D. (Chemical Engineering) Michael Pirrung, Ph.D. President’s Chair (Chemistry) Alexander Raikhel (Entomology) A.L.N. Rao, Ph.D. (Microbiology and Plant Pathology) Anandasankar Ray, Ph.D. (Entomology) Frances Sladek, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Patricia S. Springer, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Prudence Talbot, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Linda L. Walling, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Yinsheng Wang, Ph.D. (Chemistry) Emma Wilson, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Susan Wessler, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Shizhong Xu, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Zhenbiao Yang, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Changcheng Zhou, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Raphael Zidovetzki, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology)

Associate Professors Jeffrey B. Bachant, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Meng Chen, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Science) Djurdjica Coss, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Anupama Dahanukar, Ph.D. (Entomology) Adler Dillman, Ph.D. (Nematology) Nicholas V. DiPatrizio, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Todd Fiacco, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Kaustabh Ghosh, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Juan Pablo Giraldo, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Science) Weifeng Gu, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Ted Karginov, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Jiayu Liao, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Amy Litt, Ph.D.(Botany and Plant Sciences) Christian Lytle, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Meera Nair, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Jin Nam, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) David Nelson, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Nicole zur Nieden, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) James Ng, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and Microbiology) Constance I. Nugent, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Carolyn Rasmussen, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Emma Wilson, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Naoki Yamanaka, Ph.D. (Entomology) Sika Zheng, Ph.D. (School of Medicine)

Assistant Professors Garret Anderson, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Sihem Cheloufi, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) Qi Chen, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Jun-Hyeong Cho, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Patrick Degnan, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and Microbiology) Rong Hai, Ph.D. (Microbiology and Plant Pathology) Sachiko Haga-Yamanaka, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Ansel Hsiao, Ph.D. (Plant Pathology and Microbiology) Kerry Mauck, Ph.D. (Entomology) Joshua Morgan, Ph.D. (Bioengineering) Juliette Morrison, Ph.D. (Microbiology and Plant Pathology) Jernej Murn, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) Dawn H. Nagel, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Maria Ninova, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) Tara Nordgren, Ph.D. (School of Medicine) Sean O’Leary, Ph.D. (Biochemistry) Martín Riccomagno, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology) Danelle Seymour, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Jaimie Van Norman, Ph.D. (Botany and Plant Sciences) Hongdian Yang, Ph.D. (Molecular, Cell and Systems Biology)

The Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biolo- gy 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 scienc- es 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 undergrad- uate 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 ge- netics 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 defi- ciencies 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 developmen-

tal biology (BPSC 232, CMDB 202)

• 5. GDIV 403 Research and Scholarship Ethics

(1 unit; may be taken any time prior to graduation)

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 com- mittee, which recommends a course of study commensurate with the student’s interests and background.

The Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biolo- gy 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 (SCH 230(E-Z), BIOL 281(E-Z)/CMDB 281(E-Z), BPSC 240, BCH 289/BIOL 289/NRSC 289/PSYC 289) or other with consent of the graduate advisor, 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 Biolo- gy program offers a Ph.D. degree.

• 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 (SCH 230 (E-Z), BIOL 281 (E-Z)/CMDB 281 (EZ), BPSC 240, SCH 289/BIOL 289/CHEM 289/ ENTM 289/NRSC 289/PSYC 289} or other with consent of the graduate advisor

• 4. A research project leading to a disserta-

tion

• 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 profession- al 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 orien-

tation in the Teaching Assistant Devel- opment 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 Envi- ronmental Health and Safety. Additional training may be mandated for some research activities.

• 4) Presentations, scientific interactions

and intellectual development: Enroll- ment each quarter in CMDB 257 Seminar in Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology. Part of the professional devel- opment 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, 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 profes- sional development.

Dissertation Candidates must successfully defend their dissertation research in a public oral presen- tation.

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