Grad Profiles - Carnegie Mellon University Biological Sciences

Overview
Carnegie Mellon is a private institution devoted to liberal professional education. With a gift from Andrew Carnegie, it was established in 1900 as the Carnegie Technical School. In 1912, the name of the school was changed to Carnegie Institute of Technology. Mellon Institute was founded in 1913 by A. W. Mellon and R. B. Mellon for general research in the sciences and for cooperation with industry in sponsored research and engineering projects. It merged with the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1967 to become Carnegie Mellon University. The University has an endowment in excess of $400 million, a total enrollment of about 7,300, and approximately 550 teaching faculty members.

Graduate enrollment at Carnegie Mellon University totals more than 4,000 and includes students from all parts of the United States and many other countries. In 2004, the Department of Biological Sciences had 45 graduate students and 10 postdoctoral fellows.

Most of the students who graduated from the Department of Biological Sciences in the last three years have obtained postdoctoral positions. They are currently at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dupont, University of Virginia, Brown University, Cornell University, and Carnegie Mellon, among others.

The Location and Community
Pittsburgh, a large metropolitan area of more than 2 million people, is the headquarters for many of the nation’s largest corporations. There is a large concentration of research laboratories, biotechnology companies, hospitals, and universities in the area. Carnegie Mellon is located in Oakland, the educational center of the city, and borders on attractive residential areas and Schenley Park, the largest of Pittsburgh’s many parks. The campus is close to the many cultural and sports activities of the city and only 4 miles from the downtown business district.

Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The Department of Biological Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University offers a research-oriented program leading to the Ph.D. degree. Major research activities encompass biochemistry, biophysics, cell biology, developmental biology, genetics, molecular biology, neurobiology, and computational biology, with a continuing special emphasis on interdisciplinary projects. There are no specific course requirements for the Ph.D.; instead, in collaboration with a faculty committee, students construct unique course programs according to their needs and professional goals. By the end of the first year, each student will have obtained fundamental knowledge in at least four major research fields. To qualify for the Ph.D., a graduate student must pass a qualifying examination, write and defend a research proposal, submit a thesis based on the student’s research, and pass a final oral examination. Research is carried out under the guidance of a faculty member and a thesis committee.

In addition, the Department of Biological Sciences offers an three- to four-semester program leading to the M.S. in computational biology for promising students who plan careers in this field. The focus of the program is the development of practical skills required for success in computational biology. There is a low student-faculty ratio, ensuring that each student receives individual attention and advising; a unique program of research and course work is designed to address the needs and goals of each student. .

One of the most attractive features of the department is the opportunity for close interaction among graduate students and faculty members. In addition to formal teaching and research programs, the department offers a seminar series and weekly journal club meetings. The seminar series brings in scientists from the United States and abroad to discuss their research with faculty members and graduate students. At journal club meetings, students and faculty members present topical and controversial papers from the current literature.

Facilities & Resources
The Department of Biological Sciences is based in the Mellon Institute. On site are modern facilities and equipment for research in cellular, molecular, and developmental biology; biophysics; biochemistry; computational biology; and neuroscience. The department has access to a variety of modern research and teaching laboratories, sophisticated computing facilities, the biology and chemistry library, an electron microscopy facility, two animal facilities, lecture and seminar rooms, instrument and chemical storage areas, glass blowing and machine shop services, a drafting facility, and office space. In addition to the Department of Biological Sciences, the eight-story Mellon Institute building houses the University’s Department of Chemistry, the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, the Pittsburgh NMR Center, the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, and the Molecular Biosensor and Imaging Center.

Financial Aid:
Each graduate student accepted into the full-time Ph.D. program automatically receives financial support, which includes a full tuition remission valued at approximately $34,200 and a stipend valued at approximately $23,400. All graduate degree candidates are required to perform teaching service that is unrelated to financial support. Students who are accepted into the M.S. in computational biology program do not receive financial aid.

Housing/Living Expenses:
University housing for graduate students is not available, but off-campus housing is plentiful and affordable. The Carnegie Mellon Housing Office provides further information at http://www.housing.cmu.edu.

How to Apply
The Department of Biological Sciences seeks promising students interested in careers in biological research. Students with strong backgrounds in all areas of biological sciences, chemistry, mathematics, or physics who have graduated from a recognized four-year college, university, or institute of technology are considered for entry to the graduate program. The deadline for applying to the Ph.D. program is January 1.

For the M.S. program, it is preferred that materials be submitted by February 15 if possible; highest priority is given to those who apply by this date. The final deadline for acceptance into the M.S. program is May 1. For admission beginning in the spring semester, application materials should be submitted by May 1.

Applicants are required to provide official reports of scores on the General Test of the Graduate Record Examinations, transcripts from all college-level institutions attended, and three letters from professional references. Prospective applicants should visit the Web site listed in the Correspondence and Information section to complete the online application.

Who to Contact
Graduate Admissions
Department of Biological Sciences
Carnegie Mellon University
4400 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213

412-268-3012

Web site home page

The Graduate Faculty and Research

Eric T. Ahrens, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., UCLA. Biological imaging; advancing the state of the art of high-resolution MRI and using these techniques to visualize development, connectivity, function, and pathology of the vertebrate nervous system.

• Alison L. Barth, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Berkeley. Identifying the molecules and pathways involved in developmental and adult plasticity, using in vivo manipulations to induce changes in synaptic strength as well as whole-cell electrophysiological recordings.

• Peter B. Berget, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Minnesota. Functional proteomics and genomics; gene and protein discovery and genome annotation in mammalian cells, using CD-tagging; constructing modified transposon and retroviral CD-cassette delivery vectors to be used in both DNA library and cell tagging experiments.

• William E. Brown, Professor; Ph.D., Minnesota. Protein structure-function relationships; proteins and small molecular weight mediators that play important roles in airway injury and response; structure and function characterization of such molecules and their relationship to physiological responses such as inflammation, hypersensitivity, and epithelial cell loss.

• Justin Crowley, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Duke. Formation of neural circuitry; development of neural processing modules in primary visual cortex; combination of physiological and anatomical techniques used to explore both structure and function of neural circuitry in the developing brain.

• Amy K. Csink, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Georgia. Nuclear organization, chromosome structure, and gene expression; molecular evolution of repetitive sequences; Drosophila genetics and fluorescent microscopy used to determine how a gene is influenced by its position along the chromosome and location within the three-dimensional space of the nucleus.

• Dannie Durand, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Columbia. Computational molecular biology; use of computational approaches to study the role of gene duplication in the acquisition of new gene function and the evolution of vertebrate genomes.

• Charles A. Ettensohn, Professor; Ph.D., Yale. Cell migration and cell adhesion during development; understanding morphogenesis in developing multicellular animals; morphogenesis of the primary mesenchyme cells and cell-cell interactions that regulate the choice of cell fates during embryogenesis in the sea urchin embryo.

• David D. Hackney, Professor; Ph.D., Berkeley. Enzyme mechanisms, regulation, and structure; the three main enzyme systems involved in biological energy transductions: kinesin ATPase, myosin ATPase, and ATP synthesizing complex of the inner mitochondrial membrane.

• Chien Ho, Professor; Ph.D., Yale. Correlating the structure-function relationships in biological systems, particularly allosteric proteins, using hemoglobin as a model; membrane-associated proteins and enzymes; structure-function relationship in cell membranes; applications of NMR imaging and in vivo spectroscopy to investigate cellular structures and functions of living systems.

• Jeffrey O. Hollinger, Professor and Director, Center for Bone Tissue Engineering; D.D.S., Ph.D., Maryland. Developing and designing tissue-engineered therapies to regenerate bone; matrices to deliver cells and soluble signaling molecules to bone-deficient sites; basic and translational efforts in molecular, cell, and developmental biology and in polymers and surgical research.

• Jonathan W. Jarvik, Associate Professor; Ph.D., MIT. Functional proteomics and genomics; CD-tagging, a technique that allows simultaneous tagging of genes, transcripts, and proteins in a single biochemical event; CD-tagging mammalian cells with epitope and GFP tags; identification of tagged genes; observation of tagged proteins in live cells; purification of tagged proteins.

• Elizabeth W. Jones, Professor and Department Head; Ph.D., Washington (Seattle). Roles of intracellular proteinases; activities and genesis of the lysosome-like vacuole and enclosed hydrolases; study of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is amenable to genetic, biochemical, molecular biological, and cell biological analysis.

• Frederick Lanni, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Harvard. Biophysical aspects of the cytoskeleton and cell motility; biophysics of cell motility; microscopy research and development; use of high-resolution light microscopy in the study of motile function in live cells and in reconstituted model systems.

• Tina Lee, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., California, San Francisco. Membrane trafficking, organelle structure, and dynamics; complementary in vivo and in vitro approaches to study the mechanisms by which changes in cell physiology regulate trafficking steps within the secretory pathway of mammalian cells.

• Adam D. Linstedt, Associate Professor; Ph.D., California, San Francisco. Regulation of organelle assembly; mechanisms regulating the assembly of the Golgi complex; role of giantin in the reassembly of the Golgi after cell division.

• A. Javier López, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Duke. Developmental biology; posttranscriptional regulation of gene function; structure and function of protein family encoded by the Ubx locus of Drosophila, which specifies the pathway of differentiation followed by a particular group of segments in the insect body.

• Brooke McCartney, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Duke. Mechanisms of signal transduction and cytoskeletal organization during Drosophila development; genetic, cell biological, developmental, and biochemical techniques used to understand intersections between signal transduction and cytoskeletal organization in Drosophila, using the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) family of tumor suppressors as a model.

• William R. McClure, Professor; Ph.D., Wisconsin-Madison. Mechanism and regulation of Escherichia coli DNA-dependent RNA polymerase; effect of DNA sequence and structure on promoter function; interaction of protein activators and repressors with RNA polymerase during initiation of RNA synthesis.

• Jonathan S. Minden, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Yeshiva (Einstein). Developmental biology; molecular basis of pattern formation; use of a wide variety of approaches, from classical genetics to state-of-the-art computer-assisted fluorescence microscopy, to investigate pattern formation in Drosophila.

• Robert F. Murphy, Professor; Ph.D., Caltech. Investigation of mechanisms and pathways of receptor-mediated endocytosis and protein localization using fluorescence techniques, especially multiparameter flow cytometry, and computational biology.

• John F. Nagle, Professor; Ph.D., Yale. Phase transitions in biomembranes and molecular interactions in lipid bilayer; molecular mechanisms for proton transport through membranes in connection with bioenergetic processes.

• Gordon S. Rule, Professor; Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon. NMR studies of protein structure dynamics; enzyme-substrate, protein-lipid, antibody-antigen, and protein-nucleic acid interactions.

• Nathan N. Urban, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Pittsburgh. How circuitry of the olfactory bulb transforms the spatially segregated, rate-coded, and combinatorial glomerular odor representation into one that is more spatially homogenous and more sparse and its dependence on the precise timing of mitral cell spikes; transformation implementation in the circuitry of the bulb.

• James F. Williams, Professor; Ph.D., Toronto. Defining the organization of the adenovirus genome in terms of location and function of genes controlling virus development during infection; requirement for adenogene products in oncogenic transformation of rodent cells.

• John L. Woolford Jr., Professor; Ph.D., Duke. Mechanism of ribosome assembly; genes necessary for messenger RNA splicing in yeast; utilizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae, due to the ease with which it can be manipulated for biochemical, genetic, molecular biological, and cell biological experiments.