524 Scaife Hall

412-648-8957

http://www.gradbiomed.pitt.edu

gradstudies@medschool.pitt.edu

The PhD Program in Cell Biology and Molecular Physiology is one of the six degree-granting programs offered to students entering the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Graduate Program in the School of Medicine. Graduates will be trained in cell function, physiology, cell interactions, and development from the molecular to the organ level. The faculty are drawn from both basic science and clinical departments. The following fields are currently under investigation: epithelial cell biology including investigating the devastating effects of impaired salt transport in inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis; the intracellular transduction of signals that cause diabetes; identification of the mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias; the mechanisms by which membranes and cargo are transported into and through the cell; water transport and barrier epithelia and on the biology of ion channels; and chromatin structure and dynamics as well as the study of dystrophin to develop novel treatments for muscular dystrophy. In addition, the hormonal regulation of reproduction and fertility is being investigated by members of the Center for Reproductive Physiology. Topics in reproduction research include the use of rhesus monkeys as a model of human neuroendocrine control of puberty, the regulation of gene expression by sex hormones, signal transduction mechanisms required for male fertility, the cellular and molecular basis of ovarian function, and the molecular pathways initiating labor.