http://www.uab.edu/graduate
email: cmb@uab.edu

Overview
The University of Alabama at Birmingham consists of University College, the Graduate School, and the Medical Center. It is located in the largest population center of the state and is heavily engaged in research, instruction, and service programs. Its dedication to excellence in biomedical research is exemplified by its consistent ranking in the top twenty institutions in receipt of federal research funds.  

The graduate program of the Departments of Biochemisty and Molecular Genetics, Cell Biology, Microbiology and Neurobiology consists of more than 100 faculty members, 160 full-time graduate students, and about 150 postdoctoral fellows and visiting faculty members. The total enrollment at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is more than 14,600.  

The Community
Birmingham is located in the lovely, rolling foothills of the Appalachian mountain range in central Alabama. A metropolitan area that includes almost 1 million people, Birmingham is only a few hours' drive from Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, and the Gulf Coast. The city has excellent art and historical museums, theaters, libraries, a symphony orchestra, a ballet, a zoo, and botanical gardens. A host of recreational opportunities, including camping, swimming, fishing, hiking, golf, tennis, and boating, are available the year round in numerous local and state parks.  

Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program, administered by the Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Cell Biology, Microbiology and Neurobiology, offers course work and individual laboratory research leading to the Ph.D. degree. The program is designed to provide interdisciplinary training of high quality in cell and molecular biology to a selected group of predoctoral students, preparing them to become independent investigators in these disciplines. Students are immersed in research at the forefront of scientific endeavor and provided with sufficient guidance and course work to place their research in the proper perspective.  

The program includes faculty members from the Departments of Anesthesiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Biology, Cell Biology. Medicine, Microbiology, Neurobiology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Pharmacology, Physiology, Psychiatry, and Surgery.  The first-year curriculum emphasizes three areas: acquisition of a working knowledge of contemporary cellular and molecular biology through an intensive, integrated course in biochemistry, genetics, cell biology, virology, immunology, and microbial pathogenesis; involvement in a diversity of laboratory training experiences; and the development of skills in reading, writing, and speaking. Advanced students are engaged primarily in research but also take some advanced courses and tutorials in specialized areas of interest and participate in seminars. Completion of requirements for the Ph.D. usually takes six years. No foreign language is required.  Graduates typically go on to postdoctoral research appointments followed by careers in academic research and teaching or research in the biotechnology industry.  

Facilities and Resources
Faculty members participating in the program have more than 200,000 square feet of laboratory space. In addition to well-equipped labs, a number of special facilities are available, including several multiprobe NMR spectrometers (ranging in frequency up to 400MHz), electron microscopes, protein and nucleic acid synthesis and analysis instrumentation, confocal microscope facilities, bacterial fermentation facilities, X-ray diffraction equipment, a P3 containment laboratory, computer facilities, and a hybridoma facility.  

Expenses and Aid
All students admitted to the program receive support through national or state granting agencies in the amount of $22,000 a year plus payment of tuition, fees and health insurance.

Tuition and fees are $9,500 for in-state students and $16,000 for out-of-state students. As indicated above, tuition and fees are paid for all students.

Applying
The admission decision is based on scores achieved on the Graduate Records Examinations (a combined score of 1200, nominally, on the verbal and quantitative portions of the General Test), undergraduate grade point average, letters of evaluation and, whenever possible, a personal interview with members of the Admissions Committee. The application deadline is January 15.

To be accepted into the program, the student should have completed a B.S. degree that includes the following undergraduate course work by the time of entrance: calculus (integral and differential). General and organic chemistry, and at least one introductory course in zoology or biology. Courses in physical chemistry, genetics, and cell biology are also to the benefit of the candidate. Any remedial course work must be completed with a grade of B or better before the end of the first full year of doctoral study.

Who to Contact
Admissions Committee
Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program
Suite 260, Bevill Biomedical Research Building
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama 35294-2170

800-262-7764
E-mail: cmb@uab.edu

The Faculty
Faculty and Research Interests

Cell Adhesion and Matrix

• Daniel F. Balkovetz, Assistant Professor (Medicine); Cell/cell Adhesion Cadherins Epithelial Polarity
• Stephen Barnes, Professor (Pharmacology); Bile Acids and Isoflavonoids
• Richard Mayne, Professor (Cell Biology); Development and Structure of Mesenchymal Tissues

Cell Physiology and Signaling

• Tika Benveniste, Professor (Cell Biology); Bidirectional Communication Between the Immune and Nervous Systems
• J. Edwin Blalock, Professor (Physiology & Biophysics); Immune; Neuroendocrine Interactions; Molecular Recognition
• James F. Collawn, Assistant Professor (Cell Biology0); Intracellular Protein Sorting
• Douglas M. Cyr, Assistant Professor (Cell Biology); Protein Folding and Human Disease
  
• Stuart J. Frank, Associate Professor (Medicine); Eukaryotic Cell Biology and Genetics
• Bruce Freeman, Professor (Anesthesioloy); Tissue Production and Reactions of Reactive Oxygen Species
• Gail V.W. Johnson, Professor (Pschiatry); Phosphorylation and Function of Cytoskeletal Proteins
• Ronald L. Johnson, Assistant Professor (Cell Biology); Cell Signaling; Developmental Biology; Tumor Formation
• Richard S. Jope, Professor (Psychiatry); Neuronal Signaling Systems: Mechanisms and Abnormalities in Neuronal Disorders
• Richard B. Marchase, Professor (Cell Biology); Glucose Metabolism and Cytoplasmic Glycosylation
• Steven S. Rosenfeld, Associate Professor (Cell Neurology); Structure of Molecular Motors
• Erik Schwiebert, Assistant Professor (Physiology & Biophysics); Extracellular Nucleotide Signaling and Epithelial Cell Biology and Physiology
• Lisa M. Schwiebert, Assistant Professor (Physiology & Biophysics); Inflammatory Responses
• Elizabeth S. Sztul, Associate Professor (Cell Biology); Organellar Biogenesis and Membrane Traffic
• Anne B. Theibert, Assistant Professor (Cell Biology); Role of Phosphoinositides in Developmental Neurobiology
• John A. Thompson, Professor (Surgery); Molecular Mechanisms of Angiogenesis
• J. Michael Wyss, Professor (Cell Biology); the Limbic Cortex and Neutral Cardiovascular Control

Gene Regulation and Expression

• Craig C. Garner, Associate Professor (Neurobiology); Molecular Neurobiology
• N. Patrick Higgins, Professor (Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics); Mobile DNA Structure, Enzymology and Regulation
• Jamila Horabin, Assistant Professor (Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics); Sex Determination in Drosophilia
• Tim M. Townes, Professor (Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics); Developmental Regulation of Gene Expression
• Susan Lobo-Ruppert, Assistant Professor (Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics); the Determination of RNA Polymerase Specificity
• C. Turnbough, Ph.D.: gene expression and regulation

Immunology

• P. Atkinson, M.D.: signal transduction in lymphocytes
• S. Barnum, Ph.D.: role of complement
• L. Bridges, M.D.: immunoglobulin gene expression; rheumatoid arthritis
• P. Bucy, M.D.: T cell development; immune regulation
• P. Burrows, Ph.D.: B cells; developmentally regulated genes; isotype switching
• R. Carter, M.D.: molecular mechanisms of control of B lymphocyte responses
• M. Cooper, M.D.: immune system ontogeny and phylogeny
• V. Ghanta, Ph.D.: tumor immunology, immune system and aging, CNS & immune system interactions
• R. Hiramoto, Ph.D.: cancer immunotherapy, CNS-immune system communication
• L. Justement, Ph.D.: lymphocyte activation, tyrosine kinases and phosphatases, CD45, CD22
• J. Kearney, Ph.D.: B cells; idiotypes; hybridomas; transgenic mice; immunoregulation
• C. Klug, Ph.D.: hematopoietic stem cell development
• W. Koopman, M.D.: pathogenesis of immune disease
• J. Mestecky, M.D.: mucosal immunity; vaccines S. Michalek, Ph.D.: vaccine delivery systems; mucosal immunity; inflammation; T-cells and cytokines
• J. Mountz, Ph.D.: autoimmunity; soluble fas; transgenic mice
• H. Schroeder, M.D.: developmental genetics; clinical immunology
• C. Weaver, M.D.: T cell development

Macromolecular Structure and Function

• C. Brouillette, Ph.D.: protein structural cooperativity and energetics
• H. Cheung, Ph.D.: regulatory mechanisms of cardiac muscle, molecular motors, and fluorescence spectroscopy
• L. DeLucas, Ph.D.: protein crystallography/protein crystal growth
• G. Elgavish, Ph.D.: NMR studies of intact hearts S. Harvey, Ph.D.: macromolecular structure and dynamics
• R. Krishna, Ph.D.: structural biology and biomolecular NMR-spectroscopy
• M. Luo, Ph.D.: structure-based approaches to anti-infectious agents
• J. Segrest, M.D.: plasma lipoprotein structure/function
• M. Walter, Ph.D.: signal transduction; cytokine structure/function
  

Molecular Genetics and Disease

• R. Acton, Ph.D.: immunogenetics
• D. Bedwell, Ph.D.: translation termination, calcium signaling
• P. Detloff, Ph.D.: mouse models of human genetic disorders
• K. Dybvig, Ph.D.: mycoplasmas; genetics; phenotypic switching; DNA rearrangements
• R. Kaslow, M.D.: immunogenetic determinants in AIDS and other infectious and immune diseases
• R. Kimberly, M.D.: immunologic diseases and autoimmunity
• J. Kudlow, M.D.: growth factor gene transcription
• D. Miller, M.D.: regulation of oncogene expression
• M. Ruppert, M.D.: oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in breast cancer
• T. Strong, Ph.D.: gene therapy for cancer and inherited disease
• B. Yoder, Ph.D.: polycystic kidney disease

Molecular Pathogenesis

• C. Beckers, Ph.D.: cell biology of Toxoplasma gondii
• W. Benjamin, Ph.D.: genetics of host; bacterial relationship
• D. Briles, Ph.D.: bacterial pathogenesis; virulence; immunity; pneumococcus; tuberculosis
• N. Childers, D.D.S.: oral immunization; dental caries
• S. Hajduk, Ph.D.: biochemistry and molecular biology of parasites
• D. Pritchard, Ph.D.: molecular basis for the pathogenicity of gram positive bacteria
• F. Rahemtulla, Ph.D.: salivary peroxidase system; salivary glands
• T. Unnasch, Ph.D.: river blindness; evolution; immunotherapy; diagnosis
• J. Yother, Ph.D.: Streptococcus pneumoniae genetics and pathogenesis

Neurobiology

• M. Brenner, Ph.D.: molecular neurobiology
• L. Dobrunz, Ph.D.: synaptic transmission
• M. Friedlander, Ph.D.: synapse function, molecular basis of learning
• C. Garner, Ph.D.: molecular neurobiology
• J. Hablitz, Ph.D.: cellular mechanisms of neurotransmission
• R. Lester, Ph.D.: nicotinic receptors in the CNS
• S. Mangel, Ph.D.: synaptic plasticity in the retina
• L. Mei, M.D.: synapse formation and synaptic plasticity
• L. Pozzo-Miller, Ph.D.: calcium signaling, synaptic plasticity, neurotrophic factors
• M. Quick, Ph.D.: regulation of proteins involved in neoronal signaling
• H. Sontheimer, Ph.D.: role of neuroglia in brain function
• A. Theibert, Ph.D.: role of phosphoinasticites in developmental neorobiology
• D. Weiss, Ph.D.: ligand activated ion channels
• M. Wyss, Ph.D.: control of the autonomic nervous system

Virology

• A. Ball, Ph.D.: negative-strand RNA viruses
• W. Britt, M.D.: herpesvirus envelope assembly
• T. Broker, Ph.D.: human papillomavirus gene expression, replication, and pathogenesis
• L. Chow, Ph.D.: molecular and cell biology of human papillomaviruses
• J. Engler, Ph.D.: studies on protein structure and function
• P. Fultz, Ph.D.: retroviral pathogenesis; HIV vaccines
• B. Hahn, M.D.: human retroviruses and associated diseases
• E. Hunter, Ph.D.: retrovirus molecular biology; virus assembly
• J. Kappes, Ph.D.: HIV; molecular virology and pathogenesis
• C. Morrow, Ph.D.: viral replication; vaccines
• P. Prevelige, Ph.D.: viral capsid self-assembly; defining the underlying subunit/subunit interactions and their potential as therapeutic targets
• G. Shaw, M.D.: human retroviruses; molecular virology and pathogenesis
• W. Sullender, M.D.: respiratory syncytial virus; antigenic diversity
• G. Wertz, Ph.D.: molecular virology; RNA replication
• R. Whitley, M.D.: virus; herpesvirus; herpes simplex; varicella zoster virus

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