Program in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry

Program in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry

Interdepartmental Program

The following list reflects the 2008/2009 faculty.

Director Ulla Hansen

Faculty

Rama Bansil Professor of Physics, College of Arts & Sciences; Assistant Professor of Physiology and Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine. BSc, MSc, University of Delhi (India); PhD, University of Rochester

Helen Barbas Professor of Health Sciences, Sargent College. BA, Kean College; MS Kansas State University; PhD, McGill University (Canada)

Michael J. Baum Associate Chair, Department of Biology; Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BA, Carleton College; MA, PhD, McGill University (Canada)

Mark Bitensky Senior Research Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering; Visual and Circulatory Biophysics Laboratory. AB, Yale University; MD, Yale Medical School

Cynthia Bradham Assistant Professor of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences. PhD, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Gloria V. Callard Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BS, Tufts University; MS, PhD, Rutgers University

Ian P. Callard Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BSc, PhD, University of Sheffield (England)

Charles R. Cantor Director, Center for Advanced Biotechnology; Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering; Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, School of Medicine. AB, Columbia University; PhD, University of California, Berkeley

John P. Caradonna Associate Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences. BA, MA, Johns Hopkins University; MA, PhD, Columbia University

John L. Celenza Jr. Associate Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BS, Adelphi University; MA, PhD, Columbia University

James Collins Codirector, Center for BioDynamics; Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering. AB, College of the Holy Cross; PhD, University of Oxford (England)

Geoffrey Cooper Chair, Department of Biology; Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; PhD, University of Miami

Edward Damiano Director of Graduate Admissions, Department of Biomedical Engineering; Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering. BS, PhD, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; MS, Washington University

Charles DeLisi Director of Bioinformatics, Senior Associate Provost of Biosciences. Arthur G. B. Metcalf Professor of Science and Engineering; Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Professor of Physics. BA, City College of New York; PhD, New York University

Micah Dembo Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering. BS, Allegheny College; PhD, Cornell University

James O. Deshler Assistant Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BS, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

William D. Eldred III Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BS, University of Colorado; PhD, University of Colorado Health Science Center

Sean J. Elliott Assistant Professor of Chemistry. BA, Amherst College; PhD, California Institute of Technology

John Finnerty Associate Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BA, University of Pennsylvania; PhD, University of Chicago

Maxim Frank-Kamenetskii Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering. MSc, PhD, Moscow Physical-Technical Institute (Russia); DSc, USSR Academy of Sciences (Russia)

Horacio Frydman Assistant Professor Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BS, University of Sao Paolo (Brazil); MSC, University of Sao Paulo; PhD, John Hopkins University

Thomas D. Gilmore Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. AB, Princeton University; PhD, University of California, Berkeley

Ulla Hansen Director of MCBB Program; Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. AB, Oberlin College; PhD, Harvard University

Robert E. Hausman Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Biology; Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. AB, MA, Case Western Reserve University; PhD, Northwestern University

Gary R. Jacobson Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BS, Iowa State University; PhD, Stanford University

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Susan Kandarian Professor of Health Sciences, Sargent College; Associate Research Professor, Boston University School of Medicine. BA, Albion College; MS, PhD, University of Michigan

Catherine Klapperich Assistant Professor, College of Engineering. BS, Northwestern University; MS, Harvard University; PhD, University of California, Berkeley

Sir Hans L. Kornberg University Professor and Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BSc, PhD, University of Sheffield (England); MA, DSc, University of Oxford (England); ScD, University of Cambridge (England)

Richard A. Laursen Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences. BS, University of California, Berkeley; PhD, University of Illinois

Jen-Wei Lin Associate Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BS, National Taiwan University (Taiwan); PhD, State University of New York at Buffalo

Pinghua Liu Assistant Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences. BS, Nankai University; MS, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (Chinese Academy of Sciences); PhD, University of Minnesota

Edward L. Loechler Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BS, Ohio State University; PhD, Brandeis University

Hengye Man Assistant Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. PhD, University of Toronto

Kimberly McCall Associate Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BS, State University of New York at New Paltz; PhD, Harvard University

Amit Meller Associate Professor, College of Engineering. BS, Tel Aviv University; MS, PhD, Weizmann Institute of Science

Scott C. Mohr Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences. BA, Williams College; AM, PhD, Harvard University

Kathleen Morgan Chair, Professor of Health Sciences, Sargent College. BS, College of Mount St. Joseph; PhD, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine

Francisco J. Naya Assistant Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BA, Boston University; PhD, Baylor College of Medicine

John A. Porco, Jr. Director, Center for Chemical and Methodology Development; Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences. BA, College of the Holy Cross; MS, Yale University; PhD, Harvard University

Kenneth J. Rothschild Professor of Physics, College of Arts & Sciences; Director, Molecular Biophysics Laboratory; Associate Professor of Physiology and Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine. BS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Scott E. Schaus Associate Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences; Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, Boston University School of Medicine. BA, Boston University; PhD, Harvard University

Daniel Segré Assistant Professor of Biology and Bioinformatics, College of Arts & Sciences. MS, University of Trieste (Italy); PhD, Weizmann Institute of Science

Cassandra L. Smith Deputy Director, Center for Advanced Biotechnology; Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering; Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences; Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, School of Medicine. BA, MS, West Virginia University; PhD, Texas A & M University

Temple Smith Director, Biomolecular Engineering Research Center; Director of Bioinformatics, Graduate Studies; Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering. BS, Purdue University; PhD, University of Colorado

Sidney Tamm Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BA, Cornell University; PhD, University of Chicago

Joe Tien Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering. BS, University of California, Irvine; PhD, Harvard University

Dean R. Tolan Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BA, University of Colorado; PhD, University of California, Davis

Susan Tsunoda Assistant Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BA, University of California, San Diego; PhD, Washington University School of Medicine

Thomas D. Tullius Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences. BS, University of California, Los Angeles; PhD, Stanford University

Sandor Vajda Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering. MSc, Gubkin Institute (Russia); MSc, Eötvös Lorand Tudományegyetem (Hungary); PhD, Hungarian Academy of Science

David J. Waxman Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BA, Queens College, City University of New York; PhD, Harvard University

Eric P. Widmaier Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences. BA, MS, Northwestern University; PhD, University of California, San Francisco

Joyce Wong Clare Boothe Luce Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering. BS, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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The Graduate Program

The interdepartmental Graduate Program in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry (MCBB Program) offers both the MA and PhD degrees. Its curriculum is designed both to provide a solid foundation in these related disciplines through coursework and research, and to prepare students for teaching or research positions in academia, industry, or government. Participating faculty are from the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Biomedical Engineering (College of Engineering), and Health Sciences (Sargent College). A broad range of potential research areas is represented, including molecular biology, enzymology, protein and nucleic acid structure, bio-organic chemistry, membrane biochemistry, developmental and cell biology, molecular genetics and gene regulation, the molecular basis of mutagenesis and carcinogenesis, retrovirology, molecular neurobiology and endocrinology, biomolecular engineering, and biotechnology.

The experimental systems used by MCBB faculty span the evolutionary spectrum and include viruses, bacteria, yeast, plants, cnidarians, fish, insects, mice, avian cells, and mammalian (including human) cells. State-of-the-art instrumentation and facilities are available for protein and nucleic acid sequencing, oligonucleotide and peptide synthesis, macromolecular structure determination (x-ray crystallography and NMR, IR, Raman and mass spectroscopy), molecular modeling, electron and confocal microscopy, cell culture and micro-array technology. In addition, the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and the Biomedical Engineering Research Center in the College of Engineering provide outstanding computational facilities for the study of DNA and protein structure, genome organization and structure, and the design of new molecular architectures for drugs and vaccines. The Center for Chemical Methodology & Library Development does cutting-edge research in the area of developing small-molecule libraries with unprecedented complexity, which is essential for chemical genetic approaches to biological function. Many of the participating faculty maintain ongoing research collaborations, which underscore the interdisciplinary nature of the program and of the research opportunities available to students in the MCBB Program.

Admission

Prospective students are expected to have strong undergraduate backgrounds in biology and chemistry (general and organic). College-level courses in physics, calculus, and statistics are also expected to have been completed. Any deficiencies in these areas may have to be made up after matriculation into the program, but without graduate course credit. Applicants are required to submit scores for both the General and Subject Graduate Record Examination. Normally, the Subject test should be taken in Biology, Chemistry, or Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Applicants whose native language is not English are also required to submit results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Admission is limited to September enrollment.

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Curriculum and Requirements

The MCBB Program offers the PhD (postbachelor’s and post-master’s) and MA degrees. With the exception of MB and BB courses, the reader is referred to individual department listings for descriptions of the courses listed below.

Postbachelor’s PhD For the postbachelor’s PhD degree in MCBB, a total of 64 course credits is required. Of these, at least 32 credits must come from lecture, laboratory, or seminar courses distributed as follows:

Required Core Courses (24 credits total):

CAS BI 552 Molecular Biology I (4 cr)
GRS BI 753 Advanced Molecular Biology (4 cr)
CAS BI 583/584 Progress in Cell and Molecular Biology (2 cr each; the student is required to attend this seminar throughout his or her graduate career at Boston University, but may only count a total of 4 credits toward the degree.)
GRS MB 721 Graduate Biochemistry (4 cr)
GRS MB 722 Advanced Biochemistry (4 cr)
GRS BI 735 Advanced Cell Biology (4 cr)

Elective Courses (at least 8 credits total):

In consultation with the student’s advisor, he or she will choose the remaining graduate-level courses, of which no more than 4 credits may be obtained from 2-credit seminar/readings courses. Appropriate courses are listed below. However, other courses, subject to the approval of the MCBB committee, may also be appropriate depending on the student’s area of research:

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Post-master’s PhD For the post-master’s PhD degree, 32 course credits are required. The required courses are the same as described above for the postbachelor’s PhD. However, depending on the student’s background, one or more of the required courses may be waived in consultation with the instructors of those courses, subject to the approval of the MCBB Committee. No more than 4 credits may be derived from 2-credit seminar/readings courses.

MA For the MA degree, 32 credits of coursework are required. The required courses are the same as described above for the postbachelor’s PhD degree (except that GRS BI 553, 621 and 622 are taken instead of GRS BI 753, MB 721 and 722). For a non-research MA, a scholarly review paper covering a topic agreed upon with the student’s advisor is required. The paper will be evaluated and approved by the student’s MA committee (see below). For a research MA, a thesis describing the student’s research is required, also to be evaluated and approved by the MA committee. Students pursuing a research MA may use graduate research courses to complete the required eight credits of Elective Courses, upon recommendation of the advisor. PhD candidates in the postbachelor’s program may apply for the MA degree upon successful completion of the qualifying examination, provided that the coursework requirements for the MA degree has been satisfied (see below). In this case, no thesis or scholarly review paper is required.

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PhD Qualifying Examination

For the PhD degree, a qualifying examination must be passed. The examination is designed to test the student’s knowledge in molecular biology, cell biology, and biochemistry as well as his or her grasp of areas related to a research topic. It is normally taken in the second year after most or all of the formal coursework has been completed. It consists of a written preliminary exam, offered twice a year, and an oral qualifying exam administered by a committee of no fewer than five faculty, at least four of whom must be members of the MCBB Program (including the thesis advisor). The oral qualifying exam should be passed within 6 months of the preliminary exam. Any student failing this examination may, at the discretion of the examination committee, have the opportunity to take it again. Failure of the second examination will be grounds for automatic dismissal from the PhD program and the loss of any further financial aid, although the student may still be eligible for the MA degree provided that those degree requirements are met.

Teaching Requirement

The Program requires a minimum of two semesters’ participation in teaching during a graduate student’s career as part of the PhD degree.

Thesis

For the PhD degree, a dissertation of publication quality describing original research is required. The first reader must be a member of the MCBB Program. The thesis committee consists of no fewer than five faculty, of whom at least three (including the first reader) must be members of the MCBB Program. At least one outside member is encouraged. Usually, this committee will be the same as that for the qualifying examination, although replacements may be necessary in individual cases. After passing the qualifying examination, the student is required to meet with this committee on a regular basis, usually at least once a year, at which time the student’s research progress will be evaluated. Before the thesis defense is scheduled, the committee will agree on the body of work that is sufficient to constitute the thesis and meet with the student, who will defend the work. A thesis defense seminar is also required.

For the research MA degree, a thesis describing original research is also required. For the non-research MA degree, a scholarly review paper is required as described earlier. The MA committee for the research degree consists of at least three faculty, of whom at least two must be members of the MCBB Program. The thesis must be approved by the committee, but no formal defense is required. For the non-research MA degree, the scholarly review paper must be approved by at least two MCBB faculty. Students normally enroll in MB 701/702 as credit for scholarly thesis work.

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Courses

CAS BB 522 Molecular Biology Laboratory

GRS MB 701/702 Graduate Readings in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, & Biochemistry

GRS MB 721 Graduate Biochemistry

GRS MB 722 Advanced Biochemistry

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Published by Trustees of Boston University
One Silber Way
Boston, MA 02215

19 December 2008
Boston University
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