uf phd biology

Skip to content

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Message from the director.

A welcome message from Sabrina Diano, PhD, Director, Institute of Human Nutrition.

IHN alumni are advancing nutrition around the world through work in the health care industry, clinical research, medical education, and more.

Research Laboratories

Learn more about the Institute for Human Nutrition's research.

In the Community

Local initiatives.

IHN is a proud supporter of local organizations and activities here in Washington Heights and the surrounding communities.

PhD in Nutritional and Metabolic Biology

The Nutritional and Metabolic Biology (NMB) PhD training program prepares students to work at the frontiers of biomedical research in nutritional and metabolic sciences, exploring the role of nutrition in maintaining optimal human health.  The objective of the training program is to prepare individuals who will conduct original basic science research, teach in medical schools and universities, and hold positions of leadership in community and international nutrition.

Housed within the Institute of Human Nutrition (IHN) at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), this inter-disciplinary and multi-departmental training program is highly structured and comprises both coursework and basic research. The NMB program is one of the few pre-doctoral training programs in nutrition in the United States that is located within a medical school and is unique among the other PhD programs at CUMC with an equal number of MDs and PhDs as faculty mentors (including ten MD/PhDs). The location of the NMB training program in a medical school offers trainees a wide array of research opportunities in laboratories headed by established senior scientists as well as NIH-funded younger independent investigators, all focused on the role of nutrition and metabolism in health and disease.

nmb_phd_program_faculty_-_life_at_columbia

nmb_phd_program_students_-_life_at_columbia

For information on NMB faculty, please visit the Faculty page on the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) site .

Lori Zeltser, PhD

• Co-director

Anthony Ferrante Jr., MD, PhD

University of Florida

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Program information.

In addition to offering the Masters program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department faculty mentor Ph.D. students in the College of Medicine interdisciplinary program (IDP) in medical sciences as well. Students interested in pursuing a doctoral degree can view specific features of the biochemistry and molecular biology concentration at http://biochem.med.ufl.edu/ and http://idp.med.ufl.edu . For admission information, visit the IDP website.

The Department offers a wide variety of courses for graduate students studying in the life sciences. The research expertise of the faculty spans the areas from cell biology, metabolism, and molecular biology to physical biochemistry/structural biology. Current research interests include viral protease inhibitors, viral RNA replication, bioenergetics and proton translocation, X-chromosome structure and function, cytoskeletal assembly and dynamics, enzyme mechanism and control, chromatin structure, gene expression and regulation, mitochondrial biogenesis and evolution, the genetics of inherited disease, nutrient membrane transporters, protein site-directed mutagenesis, ribosome structure and function, signal transduction, structural biology and dynamics of macromolecules, protein-nucleic acid interactions, transgenic animal models, and virus crystal structure.

Prospective graduate students should have adequate training in chemistry and biology. Minor deficiencies may be made up immediately after entering graduate school. Previous undergraduate experience in a research laboratory is highly recommended. Doctoral students are required to take a core IDP course in fall term of their first year; and beginning in spring term, students take advanced classes in areas of interest. Specific advanced-level courses may be recommended by the student’s supervisory chair and committee. Courses are open to all graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Additional courses may be listed in the Advanced Concentration in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology section under the major of Medical Sciences.

Degrees Offered with a Major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

• no concentration
• concentration in Reproductive Biotechnology

Requirements for these degrees are given in the Graduate Degrees section of this catalog.

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Courses

College of medicine courses, biochemistry & molecular biology (ms).

SLO1      Competency: Knowledge of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology    Students will identify and explain fundamental principles in biochemistry and molecular biology by applying this knowledge to solve problems, to explain the background to a research project, and to answer novel questions in a research setting

SLO2      Competency: Research Methods              Students will perform an independent research project that requires students to: develop technical expertise required to independently perform experimental work, independently analyze data, report key results from experiments in both written and oral formats, critically evaluate primary literature, and reproduce experimental methods from the literature

SLO3      Professionalism Students will be professional in their conduct of research. They will adhere to and practice ethical conduct of research and implement established safety, regulatory, and administrative rules

• Bloom, Linda B.
• Bungert, Jorg
• Flanegan, James B.
• Huang, Suming
• Kilberg, Michael S.
• Kladde, Michael P.
• Long, Joanna R.
• Mareci, Thomas H.
• Mckenna, Robert
• Nick, Harry S.
• Purich, Daniel L.
• Stacpoole, Peter W.
• Wallace, Margaret R.

Associate Professor

• Bubb, Michael Raymond
• Lu, Jianrong J.
• Merritt, Matthew E.
• Xie, Mingyi

Assistant Professor

• Caglayan, Melike

Research Associate Professor

• Koroly, Mary J.

Affiliated Faculty

• Cousins, Robert J. Eminent Scholar
• Denslow, Nancy D. Professor
• Fujii, Kotaro Assistant Professor
• Gumz, Michelle L. Associate Professor
• Khemtong, Chalermchai Associate Professor
• Li, Chenglong Professor
• Licht, Jonathan D. Professor
• Qian, Zhijian Professor
• Southwick, Frederick Seacrest Professor
• Zarrinpar, Ali Associate Professor

Print Options

Print this page.

The PDF will include all information unique to this page.

This PDF includes all graduate catalog information.