Masters & Doctoral Degrees
In Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

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.
  

Graduate fellowships, assistantships, and research awards are available to students admitted to the Graduate School on a competitive basis. Both fellowships and assistantships carry a stipend and a tuition waiver. Assistantship stipends currently start at $20,000 and vary upward depending upon year of study.

Information is available from the University of Nevada Graduate School
  

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The University of Nevada, Reno, is a center of innovation and energy for the thriving Reno-Sparks metropolitan area. Its 255-acre campus of rolling hills features a blend of ivy-covered buildings, sweeping lawns, and functional, progressive architecture. Reno-Sparks is in an unusually attractive natural setting. It is bounded on the west by the majestic Sierra Nevada range and on the east by a rolling basin and range province. Reno-Sparks benefits from a comfortable climate marked by generally cool and dry weather with more than 300 sunny (or cloudless) days per year. The area is a haven for those who love the four seasons and outdoor activities. Recreational activities are easy to find. Students are within less than an hour’s driving distance of the many world-class ski resorts of Lake Tahoe and the historic Western realm of Virginia City.
  

The University of Nevada, Reno, is a constitutionally established land-grant university founded in 1874. The University served the state of Nevada as its only state-supported institution of higher education for almost seventy-five years. In that historical role, it has emerged as a doctoral-granting university that focuses its resources on doing a select number of things well. A diverse student body strengthens the academic atmosphere for the cultural and intellectual development of the student. By fostering creative and scholarly activity, the University encourages and supports faculty research and the application of that research to state and national problems. UNR is growing rapidly and currently enrolls more than 16,000 students, including 3,000 enrolled in graduate programs. The University houses a School of Medicine with a class of 65 medical students. The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) accredits the University.
  

There is a $60 nonrefundable graduate program application fee for domestic students and a $95 nonrefundable graduate program application fee for international students. All GPA and test score information must be included on the application. Interested students should submit one official transcript from the Registrar's Office at EVERY post-secondary school you have attended (community college, university, etc.) directly to the Graduate School at UNR. Applicants who are applying for a graduate assistantship must include three letters of recommendation.
  

Dr. John C. Cushman
Graduate Director
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
University of Nevada, Reno
1664 North Virginia Street, MS 200
Reno, Nevada 89557-0014
Phone: 775-784-6911
Fax: 775-784-1650
E-mail: jcushman@unr.edu
  

Josh E. Baker, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Minnesota, Twin Cities, 1999. Use of optical traps, fluorescence microscopy, and single-molecule imaging techniques to study the molecular basis for cell motility.

Brian W. Beck, Associate Director of Structural Bioinformatics and Molecular Modeling, Nevada Center for Bioinformatics; Ph.D., Washington State, 1997. Molecular modeling; computational biochemistry.

Gary Blomquist, Professor and Department Chair; Ph.D., Montana State, 1973. Insect biochemistry; lipid metabolism; biosynthesis and molecular biology of sex pheromone production; comparative biochemistry.

Grant R. Cramer, Professor; Ph.D., California, Davis, 1985. Salt tolerance of plants; growth and ion transport of plants at the whole-plant and cellular levels; interactions with plant hormones.

Christine Cremo, Professor; Ph.D., Oregon State, 1983. Structure and function of motor proteins in smooth muscle.

John C. Cushman, Professor; Ph.D., Rutgers, 1987. Molecular genetics of Crassulacean acid metabolism; molecular mechanisms of signal transduction and adaptive responses to salinity and drought stress in plants; functional genomics of salinity and drought stress tolerance.

Hanna Damke, Research Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Marburg (Germany), 1992. Role of the signaling GTPase dynamin in coordinating endocytosis with other cellular functions to maintain homeostasis.

Patricia Ellison, Research Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Sheffield, 1981. Regulation of smooth muscle myosins by phosphorylation and dephosphorylation; interaction between myosin and actin, myosin light-chain kinase, and phosphatase.

Kevin Facemyer, Research Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Washington State, 1996. Computational biochemistry of motor proteins.

Jeffrey Harper, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Washington (St. Louis), 1985. Mineral nutrition; calcium signaling; engineering plants to better tolerate abiotic and biotic stress.

Cynthia Corley Mastick, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon, 1990. Cellular mechanisms of insulin actions on maturity-onset or type 2 diabetes; molecular mechanisms of signal transduction and signaling specificity; cellular basis of insulin action and peripheral insulin resistance; regulation of glucose and lipid uptake/metabolism; cell biology of adipocytes and muscle.

Grant Mastick, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon, 1992. Formation of neuronal connections in the embryonic brain; developmental neurobiology; axon guidance by cell-adhesion molecules; mouse neural mutants; gene regulatory networks and transcriptional regulation of gene expression.

Kunio Misono, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Vanderbilt, 1978. Structure of cell membrane receptors and their signal transduction mechanisms.

Ron Mittler, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Rutgers, 1993. Involvement of reactive oxygen intermediates in the response of plants to different environmental stimuli and stress (biotic and abiotic); mechanisms underlying the acclimation of desert plants to their harsh environments.

Haruo Ogawa, Research Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Tokyo Institute of Technology, 1998. Understanding receptor structure and signal transduction mechanisms; crystallization of membrane proteins.

Ronald S. Pardini, Professor and Associate Director, Nevada Agriculture Experiment Station; Ph.D., Illinois, 1965. Nutritional intervention with omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of cancer; understanding mechanisms of omega-3 fatty acid–induced growth inhibition and enhanced response to cancer therapy.

Yue Qiu, Research Assistant Professor; Ph.D., Kochi (Japan), 1991. Hormone-receptor interactions; signal transduction mechanisms; cardiovascular regulation and diseases.

David Quilici, Manager, Nevada Proteomics Center; Ph.D., Nevada, Reno, 1997. Identifying unknown compounds; quantifying known compounds; elucidating structure and chemical properties of molecules.

Kathleen M. Schegg, Research Biochemist, Nevada Proteomics Center; Ph.D., Nevada, Reno, 1980. Proteomics; 2-D gel separation of proteins; amino acid analysis; protein sequencing; peptide synthesis.

David A. Schooley, Professor; Ph.D., Stanford, 1968. Structural and biosynthetic studies on physiologically active materials, chiefly, insect juvenile hormones and peptide hormones; methods for titer determination of hormones; stereochemistry and its analysis; analytical biochemistry.

David Shintani, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Michigan State, 1996. Plant biochemistry and genome research; metabolic and developmental regulation of plant isoprenoid metabolism; vitamin and cofactor biosynthesis in plants.

Claus Tittiger, Associate Professor; Ph.D., Queen’s at Kingston, 1994. Insect molecular biology and genomics; isoprenoid pheromone biosynthesis; juvenile hormone regulation; cytochrome P450s; hydrocarbon and lipid metabolism.

Maria L. Valencik, Assistant Professor; Ph.D., UCLA, 1991. Cardiovascular research; integrins and natriuretic peptides in cardiac myocytes.

David C. Ward, Professor; Ph.D., Rockefeller, 1969. Molecular genetics of human and mouse genomes; cytogenetics and human disease diagnosis.

Lee Weber, Professor; Ph.D., SUNY at Albany, 1975. Structure and expression of human stress protein genes; function of heat-shock proteins in stress resistance.

William H. Welch, Professor; Ph.D., Kansas, 1968. Role of cations in enzyme structure and function; structure-function relationships of biological molecules.

To learn more about the faculty CLICK HERE and follow the appropriate link.