Molecular Genetics and Biology (MGB)

Molecular Genetics and Biology Research Concentration Leadership:

Molecular Genetics and Biology Research Concentration

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.