The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), offers a challenging and broad-based graduate program of research and course studies leading to the M.S. or Ph.D. in biochemistry. The aim of the graduate program is to train scientists for critical analysis and solution of biochemical problems at the molecular level.

The diverse research areas represented by the faculty have the common theme of understanding the structures and roles of macromolecules in complex biological systems. Students benefit from exposure to faculty members appointed in both the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources (CABNR) and the School of Medicine. They have an opportunity for multidisciplinary interactions with graduate students and faculty members in related departments, including the Departments of Physiology and Anatomy, Microbiology and Immunology, Pharmacology, Chemistry, Biology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The academic environment is lively and highly interactive, as represented by a diverse, interdisciplinary seminar program sponsored in conjunction with other related departments.

The program of study includes lecture courses, laboratory rotations, journal club presentations, a qualifying written and oral examination, dissertation research, and an opportunity to teach. First-year students take a core curriculum and gain research experience by rotating through student-selected research laboratories. Laboratory rotations facilitate the choice of a dissertation adviser. Doctoral and master’s research projects are selected by the student in consultation with a major dissertation adviser and an advisory committee. The requirements for the Ph.D. can generally be completed in four or five years. The program, which is designed to prepare students for careers in research and/or teaching, emphasizes a cooperative, personal working environment between students and members of the faculty. To learn more about how students will be assessed in their academic performance CLICK HERE.

Faculty interests cover a wide range of disciplines in the biomedical sciences and life sciences. Research interests include environmental and biotic stress and rubber and vitamin biosynthesis in plants; insect peptide and lipid hormones and pheromones and insect lipid metabolism; muscle protein enzymology, structure, and signaling; muscle contraction and excitation-contraction coupling; cell motility; insulin signaling pathways and glucose transport; structure of membrane receptors; membrane-cytoskeletal interactions; oxygen toxicity; mammalian lipid metabolism in cancer; receptor-mediated endocytosis; and computational methods in database mining and macromolecular structure.

Each faculty member directs an active research program and is dedicated to training postdoctoral associates and doctoral- and master’slevel graduate students as well as undergraduate students. Faculty members are funded by the National Institutes of Heath, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and other extramural sources in excess of $5 million per year.

Research in UNR’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is supported by state-of-the-art approaches to genomics, proteomics, gene transfer, recombinant techniques, bioinformatics, computational biology, electrophysiology, spectroscopy, single-molecule biophysics, protein analytical biochemistry, mass spectrometry, and X-ray crystallography, among others. Facilities and technical staff members are available for analysis of samples by electron, confocal, two-photon confocal, single-molecule, and atomic force microscopy; flow cytometry; mass spectrometry; and high-throughput DNA sequence and mRNA expression analysis. In addition, research centers for genomics, monoclonal antibody production, construction of viral vectors, calcium imaging, proteomics analysis, bioinformatics and molecular modeling, and transgenic mouse generation and housing are also available.

The UNR libraries serve as the primary center for informational resources and services in support of teaching and research. The libraries’ Web-based information delivery system provides access to the libraries’ physical collections (more than 1 million books, 5,000 print journals, 12,000 videos and DVDs, and 3.3 million microforms); course reserves, most of which are available online; full-text articles from a growing number of electronic journals and magazines (currently around 15,000); approximately 13,000 electronic books; more than 200 general and specialized databases; and high-quality Internet resources selected and organized for the UNR community.

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Dr. John Cushman, Ph.D., Professor, Graduate Director
Phone: (775) 784-1918
e-mail: jcushman@unr.edu
Office: 307 Max Fleischmann Ag Bldg, UNR Campus
 
1664 North Virginia Street
Mail Stop 200
Reno, Nevada 89557-0014

 

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