Biochemistry, Cellular & Molecular Biology (BCMB) Graduate Concentration

The Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Concentration prepares students for careers in the fields of biochemistry, cellular, developmental, and molecular biology. Specific employment opportunities for graduates include traditional university professorships as well as positions in biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, governmental appointments, and others. This is a research-based concentration with coursework designed to teach students how to approach and solve modern problems in biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology. The didactic curriculum includes the GSBS core courses (Molecules, Cells, Genes), and two advanced courses that examine concepts on the forefront of biochemistry, cell and developmental biology, molecular biology, and cancer biology. During the first year of study, students progress through research rotations in three laboratories to aid in the choice of research mentor. Students with strong backgrounds in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, biomedical engineering or other biological sciences will be well suited for this concentration.

Dissertation research can be pursued on a wide range of topics from the following faculty:

Full Faculty Members

Bailoo, Jeremy evaluation of the effects of environmental toxins on behavioral and physiological correlates of diseases; how standards for housing, care, and use impact translational failure; refinement of existing as well as development of novel paradigms and apparatuses for assessment of behavioral phenotypes and animal welfare.
Bergeson, Susan sex and gender differences, molecular mechanisms of alcohol use disorder, translational approaches to neuroinflammatory diseases
Bhutia, Yangzom pancreatic cancer and nutrient transporters, cross-talk between PSCs and the tumor microenvironment, organoids as models to study pancreatic cancer
Chilton, Beverly HLTF/Hltf, transcriptome, colorectal cancer, beta cells of pancreas, trophoblast lineage
Cornwall, Gail functional amyloids in epididymal sperm maturation and sperm-egg interaction; sperm prions as a mechanism of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance
Dufour, Jannette mechanisms of Sertoli cell immune privilege, cell-based gene therapy for treatment of diabetes and associated complications, transplantation immunology
Hardy, Daniel sperm protein function in egg recognition, the sperm-specific proteome, sex differences in connective tissue remodeling and repair
Kang, Min pharmacology, pharmacogenomics, drug resistance in pediatric cancers
Karamyshev, Andrey molecular mechanisms of human diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, protein translation regulation, gene silencing, RNA/protein quality control in health and disease
Karamysheva, Zemfira translational control in protozoa and mammalian organisms, specialized ribosomes, molecular mechanisms of persistence and drug resistance in Leishmania parasites
MacDonald, Clinton messenger RNA polyadenylation and splicing in testis, brain, and stem cells
Mariappan, Malaiyalam Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) stress, Unfolded Protein Response (UPR), Ubiquitin-mediated protein quality control, Autophagy, Neurodegenerative diseases, type 2 Diabetes
Maurer, Barry translational development of novel, ceramide-based chemotherapeutics; Phase I/2 cancer trials, cell death mechanisms
Nandana, Srinivas signaling mechanisms driving prostate cancer metastasis, mouse models of prostate cancer progression, pre-clinical therapeutic targeting of prostate cancer
Palle, Komaraiah cancer experimental therapeutics, breast and ovarian cancers, mechanisms of therapeutic resistance, drug discovery, cell cycle and DNA repair
Reddy, Hemachandra aging, neurodegenerative diseases – Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, oxidative stress and mitochondrial biology/therapeutics
Reynolds, Patrick cancer developmental therapeutics including testing of new agents, mechanisms of drug action and resistance, and development of cancer drug testing laboratory models
Thomas, Jeffrey morphogenesis of the cephalic furrow, cytoskeleton dynamics during development, Src64 signaling, developmental genetics
Tripathi, Manisha role of tumor microenvironment in cancer progression, cancer therapy resistance, mechanisms involved in neuroendocrine prostate cancer
Urbatsch, Ina mechanistic diversity of ABC exporters in cystic fibrosis, cholesterol homeostasis and multidrug resistance of cancer cells: dynamics of ligand binding and substrate delivery

Associate Faculty Members

Cuello, Luis structure-function studies of voltage-gated K+ channels
Grozdanov, Petar
Liang, Hongjun membrane biophysics and bionanotechnology
Rumbaugh, Kendra biofilm-related wound infections, polymicrobial interactions during infection, interspecies and interkingdom chemical signaling, bacterial quorum sensing during infection, pre-clinical efficacy studies of experimental antimicrobials
Schneider, Brandt role of cell growth and cell size in cellular aging and lifespan determination, molecular genetics of growth control, role of G1-phase cyclin-dependent kinases in cell size control
Singh, Sharda aging, age-associate cardiac and muscular dysfunction, oxidative stress, mitochondrial biology, breast cancer therapeutics, drug discovery, and doxorubicin induced cardiotoxicity

For more information on the BCMB Graduate Concentration, please visit:
https://www.ttuhsc.edu/biomedical-sciences/program/phd-concentrations/bcmb.aspx