Graduate Program in Cancer Biology

The graduate program in Cancer Biology offers a course of study and research leading to the Ph.D. degree. Forty-five faculty trainers from 17 departments participate in this program. The graduate curriculum provides the opportunity for advanced study in cellular, developmental, and molecular biology, as well as in the basic medical sciences. Since cancer research as a discipline is unusually broad, the curriculum requirements are designed to be flexible and to provide the students with a maximal opportunity for specialization within this multidisciplinary field.

The goal of our graduate program is to train scientists who will be able to establish themselves as independent researchers. Currently 35 students are enrolled in our predoctoral program. Cancer Biology faculty also participate in other training programs in which students receive degrees in Cellular and Molecular Biology, Biomolecular Chemistry, Environmental Toxicology, Genetics, Medical Microbiology, or Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology. All students accepted into our program receive financial support, either through a research assistantship or a predoctoral fellowship.

Over 1400 women and men have received pre- and postdoctoral training at the McArdle Laboratory. Many of these alumni now hold faculty positions at universities throughout the United States and abroad, and most others are doing research at research institutions, in the government, or in industry laboratories. For example, of the 98 people trained in McArdle between 1994 and 2005, 84 are now employed in the biomedical sciences, 27 of whom are now faculty members at academic institutions.

The formal coursework for our Ph.D. students provides them with three levels of education. During the first year of graduate study, students take any courses that are necessary to provide sufficient background in the biological sciences to permit them to develop breadth before they specialize in a particular area of research. These courses may include topics as diverse as the physical chemistry of macromolecules or the molecular genetics of prokaryotes and depend in part upon the students' previous education. Second, the students are responsible for mastering an introductory course in experimental oncology as well as a graduate-level course that covers chemical and viral carcinogenesis and tumor biology. Finally, they take special topics courses designed to help provide the intellectual underpinning for their areas of specialization and to train them to present their research results well.

In addition to their coursework, during the first four months after joining our training program students rotate through several laboratories for periods of three to five weeks each. These rotations allow students to become familiar with the research problems being addressed and the approaches of the various investigators. The rotations also help to insure that there is a good match between the style of the mentor and the needs of the student. Each year most of the faculty will have openings for graduate students, and incoming students rotate through the laboratories of some of these faculty. During the rotations the students meet with the Chair of the Fellowship Committee to discuss their progress and to identify additional choices for rotation. At the end of this period of rotation the students and faculty express their preferences, and every effort is made by the Fellowship Committee to accommodate the wishes of both groups. Most students are matched with their first choice of laboratories.

The core of the graduate program is the tutorial research training provided by the mentor. In many ways the graduate training program is akin to an apprenticeship. In the early phases, students are directed closely in their experiments. They meet with their advisors formally and informally throughout the week and often work with their advisors or with advanced predoctoral or postdoctoral fellows to master experimental techniques. An essential goal of this program is that the students achieve intellectual and technical independence during their tenure here. The progress of each student toward this goal is monitored by the student's certification committee (which meets at least annually), by the preliminary examinations, and by their annual presentation of a research seminar. The student also regularly presents progress on his/her research at the meetings (usually weekly) of his/her research group.

Training in Cancer Biology prepares the students to work in different areas of cancer research, but in the aggregate all such areas are represented. Students are being trained in areas of specialization in haploid or diploid genetics, viral and chemical carcinogenesis, eukaryotic cell and molecular biology, virology, molecular toxicology, and whole-animal carcinogenesis. The goal is to provide each student with a scientific focus such that he/she will be prepared to find a position in academia or industry. The areas of specialization provide this focus.

Faculty in our graduate program have shown a commitment to the recruitment of qualified minority candidates to our pre- and postdoctoral training programs. Faculty are active participants in campus programs (e.g., summer undergraduate research programs, the high school minority apprentice program, recruitment conferences, etc.) to attract minority students.

The average time to complete the training program for the Ph.D. degree in McArdle is ~5.5 to 6 years.