Emory University
Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Atlanta, Georgia 30322
Overview
Emory University is a privately controlled, coeducational institution. Founded in Oxford, Georgia, in 1836, the college moved to the Druid Hills area of Atlanta in 1915, at which time the medical school was established. Since that time, Emory has grown into an internationally recognized teaching, research, and service center. The major components of the University are Emory College and Oxford College; the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; the Schools of Business Administration, Law, and Theology; and the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, which includes the Schools of Medicine, Public Health, Nursing, the University hospital and other major hospitals, the Division of Allied Health Professions, and the Yerkes National Primate Research Center. University affiliates include the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Georgia Institute of Technology. Emory is one of the finest settings for advanced training in the biological and biomedical sciences in the Southeast.
Emory University has an enrollment of approximately 10,800 students, more than 4,950 of whom are enrolled in its nine graduate and professional schools. The students are drawn from all areas of the country and abroad; they come from large research-oriented universities and from small liberal arts colleges. The Division currently has more than 300 students in various stages of graduate training.
The Community
Emory is located on 600 wooded acres in a an attractive suburban area of Atlanta. With a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, Atlanta is the Southeastern center for business, banking, government, and transportation and offers outstanding cultural organizations, including a symphony, museums, theater, and major-league sports, in addition to the Carter Center and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Social Change.
Programs of Study
The Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences is composed of eight interdisciplinary programs, each leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Each training program focuses on a major research area in contemporary biology or medicine and is based upon the realization that an interdisciplinary approach is essential not only for the solution of research problems but also for successful competition in modern biology and medicine. Each program seeks to provide both a broad background in molecular, cellular, and integrative biology and in-depth training in the concepts and methods of at least two biological/biomedical research disciplines. Research training and the acquisition of teaching and communication skills are stressed.
The Division offers eight interdisciplinary programs of study: the Program in Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology; the Program in Genetics and Molecular Biology; the Program in Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis; the Program in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics; the Program in Molecular and Systems Pharmacology; the Program in Neuroscience; the Program in Nutrition and Health Sciences; and the Program in Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution. The 284 faculty members in the eight programs are drawn from the School of Medicine, the School of Public Health, and the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Yerkes National Primate Center.
Facilities & Resources
Emory University is one of the major biological research and medical referral centers in the Southeast. The state-of-the-art instrumentation that is needed to study virtually any aspect of modern biology or medicine is contained within the laboratories of the Division training faculty or in the centralized research facilities of participating departments and centers. Excellent research facilities for high-resolution NMR, ESR, mass spectroscopy, microscopy, X-ray crystallographic analysis, and molecular modeling are available. Facilities for the sequencing and synthesis of polypeptides and nucleic acids and the production of monoclonal antibodies are also housed on the Emory campus. Complete computer facilities are readily accessible. The Health Sciences Library and the Woodruff Library for Advanced Studies house most literature resources, along with up-to-date information retrieval facilities and online journal subscriptions.
Expenses and Aid
Tuition and fees are $33,900, and the cost of books and supplies averages $700 per year. A full tuition waiver is provided for Division students.
Financial Aid:
Division students receive full tuition and stipend support.
Housing/Living Expenses: The current estimate of the average cost of living for a single student is $17,000. Campus housing is available through University Apartments, the community for graduate and family housing at Emory. There are also many apartment complexes and individual apartments for rent close to campus.
How to Apply
Students normally matriculate at the beginning of the fall semester. Applications should be completed by January 5 to be considered for fall enrollment; application information is available on the Web site at the address listed below. Prospective applicants should plan to take the General Test of the Graduate Record Examinations; official score reports must be transmitted to the University from ETS by the application deadline and must be less than five years old. International applicants are also required to submit TOEFL scores that are no more than two years old. The minimum requirements for admission are a bachelor's degree and a grade of B or better in science courses. Minority students are encouraged to apply.
Who to Contact
Recruitment and Admissions
Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Emory University
1462 Clifton Road, Suite 314
Atlanta, Georgia 30322
Telephone: 404-727-2545
E-mail: gdbbs@emory.edu
RESEARCH AREAS
•Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology. This program has 59 faculty members from fifteen departments. Major areas of faculty research include cell and developmental biology, signal transduction, molecular biology, enzymes and cofactors, receptor and ion channel function, and membrane biology.
•Genetics and Molecular Biology. This program has 43 faculty members from thirteen departments. Students in the program may choose from a wide venue of research topics that include DNA replication, DNA repair, recombination, gene regulation, genetics of nuclear transport, cancer genetics, chromatin structure, immunogenetics, the genetic control of development and sex determination, chromosome abnormalities, and human genetics of inherited disorders.
•Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis. This program has 41 faculty members from eight departments. Areas of research include molecular genetics: control of gene expression, regulation of DNA replication; molecular virology: virology of herpesvirus and HIV; immunology and immunochemistry: cellular and secretory immune mechanisms, mechanisms of cell-cell recognition, tumor immunology; bacterial pathogenesis; and immunopathology.
•Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. This program has 20 faculty members from five departments. Areas of research interest include molecular biology of viruses and bacterial pathogens, bacterial genetics and physiology, microbial development, and molecular biology of DNA recombination and transposition.
•Molecular and Systems Pharmacology. This program has 42 faculty members from twelve University and School of Medicine departments. Research fields represented in the program with particular strengths include problems related to basic mechanisms in neurobiology, cardiovascular biology, metabolism, and cancer biology. The formal curriculum emphasizes roles for drugs and pharmacological principles as important tools in understanding fundamental molecular, biochemical, cellular, and physiological processes. Areas of faculty research include signal transduction, regulation of gene expression, protein interactions and phosphorylation, receptor structure and function, ion channels and transporters, cell development, DNA repair, oxidative metabolism and cell stress, neurodegenerative disorders, vaccine immunology, and behavioral pharmacology.
•Neuroscience. This program has 95 faculty members from fourteen departments. Areas of research emphasis include neuronal molecular and cell biology; neurotransmitters, receptors, and second messenger systems; neurobiology of special senses (vision, olfaction); neural control of movement and posture; neural control of the cardiovascular system; developmental neurobiology; neuroplasticity and regeneration; neural control of reproductive and aggressive behavior; neuroendocrinology; neuropathology (aging, Alzheimer's disease) and neuroimmunology; computational neuroscience; and behavioral pharmacology.
•Nutrition and Health Sciences. This program has 40 faculty members from fourteen departments. Major areas of faculty research include biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, clinical nutrition, community and preventive health, environmental health sciences, and nutritional epidemiology and surveillance.
•Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution. This program has 30 faculty members from eight departments. Major areas of faculty research include population biology and evolution of microbes, evolution of infectious disease, evolution of somatic cells and their organelles, evolution of the immune system, evolution of genetic diseases in humans, evolution of behavior, and adaptive processes.