Graduate Education in Chemical Biology at the University of Michigan

Abstract

A round the country, chemical biology is increasingly recognized as a focal point for understanding biology at the molecular level—where modern biological andbiomedical research is pursued from a uniquely chemical perspective. Research in chemical biology has been conducted at the University of Michigan for many years in several departments, including biological chemistry, biophysics, chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and pharmacology. Historically, no single programprovided large numbers of faculty working in this area. Moreover, graduate training in chemical biology within individual departments often forced students to conform to existing departmental guidelines that may not have been appropriate for them. This meant that in some cases it was difficult for students to get the training they needed. In response to the need for specific graduate education in chemical biology, a new interdepartmental doctoral program was initiated in 2004. The program is essentially a virtual department and leads to a Ph.D. in chemical biology. Alternative models, in which students apply to an umbrella recruiting program that allows them to select from several departments to do their Ph.D. work after they matriculate, are used by several institutions (including Michigan for the biomedical sciences). Although such a model opened the door for more thesis advisers for students to choose from, we selected the virtual department to ensure that students in the program receive a high-level, cohesive graduate experience; that the program would have full control over the graduate curriculum; and that a level of research collaboration and mentorship is enabled that is not possible in existing departments. Our program faculty (now 40) is drawn from seven departments across campus. Students entering the Michigan chemical biology doctoral program are free to choose any of these faculty or groups of faculty as thesis mentors, and this allows them access to most laboratories on campus that do chemical biology research. Our faculty members have a diverse group of interests covering nearly all areas of what can be described as chemical biology. A major challenge in designing our program is that “chemical biology” means different things to different people. Thus, entering students have varying backgrounds and diverse interests. Rather than trying to impose a specific vision of what chemical biology should be, we have taken a very openattitude. The chemical biologydoctoral program at Michigan is structured to maximize the flexibility a student has in designing his or her curriculum and to place the key decision points in the hands of the students. A sequence of two core courses is required; a minimal list of topics is covered that we believe every chemical biologist *Corresponding author, gglick@umich.edu.