GEMS Research Concentrations
The GEMS program focuses on the development of critical skills and multi-disciplinary knowledge for all of its students. Such an educational foundation seeks to enable students to engage in decisive research in specialized areas in the biomedical sciences. Training in more focused areas is organized through six research concentrations within the GEMS programs.
The six research concentrations include four that draw from diverse topics of research and are divided based on the scale that researchers address scientific inquiry: from the atomic and molecular level (Molecular Biology and Genetics) to the basic biological unit of the cell (Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine) to tissues and organ systems (Integrative and Translational Physiology) to interactions between organisms and microbes (Microbiology, Immunity, and Inflammation). Two of the research concentrations focus on specific areas of biomedical research (Cancer Biology and Neurobiology), and they encompass research from a variety of the scales represented in the other four research concentrations. Each research concentration has its own curriculum that builds upon the core GEMS courses and provides students an avenue to gain high level of expertise within the chosen research concentration.
Research Concentrations Details Heading link
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Leadership
- Allen Diamond (Director of Graduate Studies)
- Jonathan Coloff
- Donald Vander Griend
Overview
The training concentration in Cancer Biology is a multidisciplinary program for Graduate Education in Biomedical Sciences students. The goal is to train students who are well-rounded in cancer biology principles, trained in research excellence and are critical thinkers. The renowned mentors include scientists and physicians to provide both a strong education in the fundamentals of cancer biology as well as basic, translational and clinical research perspectives. Throughout training, students will use state-of-the-art research approaches including proteomics, CRISPR, next generation sequencing, single cell sequencing, mathematical modeling, and stem cells.
The program faculty are located throughout the UI College of Medicine with home departments of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Pharmacology, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mathematics Statistics and Computer Science, Microbiology and Immunology, Pathology, Physiology and Biophysics, and Surgery. These faculty members are leaders in their respective fields that include hepatocellular carcinoma, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer. Within the field of cancer biology there is a wide range of research efforts that range from the basic mechanisms of carcinogenesis and metastasis to drug discovery and clinical research.
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Leadership
- Kishore Wary (Director of Graduate Studies)
- Sandra Pinho
- Alexandra Naba
Overview
Concentration applies biochemical, genetic, molecular, and advanced imaging techniques to study cellular processes and tissue regeneration in health and disease. Areas of research include cell signaling, organelle biology, mechanisms of cell death, cell cycle control, extracellular matrix, autophagy, molecular motors and cytoskeleton regulation, cellular metabolism, molecular pathways of stem cell self-renewal, stem cell fate and differentiation, tissue regeneration, stem cell derived three-dimensional organoids and using personalized stem cells to model diseases. These topics are investigated in a wide variety of organisms including yeast, zebrafish, mice and humans, using several cutting-edge approaches such as genetic lineage tracing of regeneration, super resolution microscopy to visualize protein complexes, single cell RNA-Sequencing to assess cellular heterogeneity and optogenetics.
A strong foundation in cell biology is essential for tackling some of the key challenges in biomedical research. The overall goal of training in this research concentration is to provide students with necessary critical thinking skills and a state-of-the art perspective on cell biology from basic biological mechanisms to translational medicine. The mentorship is provided by a multidisciplinary group of outstanding faculty members drawn from several departments in the UI College of Medicine such as Anatomy and Cell Biology, Physiology and Biophysics, Microbiology and Immunology, Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Pathology, Medicine and Surgery. This multidisciplinary and collaborative group of mentors allows for comprehensive training which enables trainees to apply basic cell biology knowledge to several human diseases and tissue regeneration.
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Leadership
- Brian Layden (Co-Director of Graduate Studies)
- Pingwen Xu (Co-Director of Graduate Studies)
- Waddah Alrefai
Overview
The Integrative and Translational Physiology Research Concentration provides a unique training perspective that focuses on tissues and organs functioning within an organism. Training stresses the study of biological systems at many levels ranging from molecules and genes, to cells, organs, and organisms. Graduate students in this concentration are prepared to address mechanistic questions in both humans and model organisms with the ultimate goal of linking molecular information to function.
Research in this concentration involves elements of Molecular and Structural Biology, Cell Biology, Genetics, and Medicine. Because physiology is central to medicine, students in this concentration will be well-trained to study issues directly relevant to human disease, which will prepare them for futures in the research, medical and biotechnology sectors. Some of the areas explored by the laboratories in this concentration are: inflammation and cardiovascular disease, the cytoskeleton in endothelial cells, cell-cell interactions in thrombosis and vascular inflammation, liver fibrosis and alcoholic liver disease, lung vascular homeostasis and lung disease, metabolism and diabetes, fat tissue function and development, angiogenesis and vascular development, infertility, and cardiac function and metabolism in heart disease. Our diverse group of faculty is united by a common interest in integrative function, with the overall goal of providing students with a deep understanding of physiology to solve basic and translational problems in biology and medicine.
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Leadership
- Francis Alonzo (Director of Graduate Students)
- Dolly Mehta
- Deepak Shukla
Overview
The training concentration in Microbiology, Immunity, and Inflammation involves faculty members from a number of departments in several colleges, and research spanning the breadth of microbiology (including virology, bacteriology, and mycology), issues of host – pathogen interactions, inflammation and other aspects of innate and adaptive immune responsiveness (including allergy and autoimmunity). Research within this concentration, broadly covering fundamental and clinically-relevant issues of pathogenesis and homeostasis, use a diversity of cutting-edge approaches to gain molecular and mechanistic insight. The overarching goal of this training program is to facilitate the development of students as rigorous, critical, and independent scientists in a robust, interactive, and closely-mentored scientific environment.
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Leadership
- Nava Segev (Director of Graduate Students)
- Andrei Karginov
- Vadim Gaponenko
Overview
The concentration is a multidisciplinary effort across several departments in the UI College of Medicine including Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, Pharmacology and Regenerative Medicine, and Physiology and Biophysics.
The overall goal of this concentration is to provide students with an integrative, modern perspective on molecular mechanisms underlying normal development, disease, and disease treatments.
Faculty associated with this training area study a wide-range of topics including signal transduction pathways, metabolomics, regulation of gene expression, proteomics, membrane biology, cellular recycling pathways, drug discovery and optimization, protein turnover by ubiquitin-proteasome system, protein engineering, biomolecule structures, interactions and dynamics, and synthetic biology. A general unifying principle in this concentration is the use of cutting-edge technologies and multi-disciplinary approaches employing model systems from cells, yeast, drosophila, and mice to mouse and human organoid culture and patient samples to address major biological questions and health issues. Students in this program have ready access and training via outstanding shared resources, and will utilize cutting edge genomic technologies, metabolomics and proteomics, drug screening, imaging, and advanced methods to determine protein structures and molecular interactions.
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Leadership
- Kuei Tseng (Director of Graduate Studies)
- Gerardo Morfini
- Amy Lasek
Overview
The Neurobiology concentration is a multidisciplinary effort across several departments in the UI College of Medicine with the goal of fostering training to graduate students in basic and translational neuroscience research and education. Our research program integrates and combines a broad spectrum of neuroscience disciplines ranging from genetic to cellular-molecular neurobiology, synaptic to neural circuit/system physiology and behavioral pharmacology. Faculty members in the Neurobiology training program are a group of highly collaborative mentors in the field of neuroscience devoted to study the mechanisms of neuronal communication and synaptic plasticity, and to reveal distinct cellular and molecular events contributing to the onset and development of a wide range of neurological and neuropsychiatry disorders. Specific areas of expertise include:
- Neurodevelopment, Neurogenesis and Plasticity
- Drug Addiction and Neuropsychiatric Disorders
- Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders
- Cerebrovascular Function and Neuroinflammation
- Neurobiology of the Synapse
- Myelination and Demyelinating Disorders
- Sensory and Motor Systems
- Cancer of the Brain
Collectively, the areas of research in Neurobiology provides a unique opportunity for graduate students to learn and apply basic neuroscience knowledge to study mechanisms of brain function and dysfunction, and to discover novel therapeutic approaches to prevent the onset and mitigate the progression of chronic neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions.
Participate in Rotation Projects Heading link
Rotation Projects provide 1st year students the ability to choose to rotate through labs that meet their research interests. As part of GEMS 506, all 1st-year students must complete three research rotations before they choose their lab beginning in the summer of their second year.
If you are a Faculty PI, complete the project form to have your projects included.