Cellular and Molecular Physiology of Organ Function

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This Training Program was completely restructured in 2002 in response to the evolution of physiology in the post-genomic era. With the sequencing of the genomes of various organisms including the human, significant strides have been made towards understanding the cellular and molecular building blocks of complex systems. This training program focuses on integrating information from many fields including cell physiology, molecular biology and genetics, biochemistry and protein structure, pharmacology and biophysics to understand how complex systems function and are regulated. Our new track in "Physiology and Integrative Medical Biology" takes a "systems and integrative biology" approach and provides the foundation for strengthening our training program designed to educate talented students in the modern concepts and techniques of integrated biological function. The goal is to launch them into careers in teaching and research where they can contribute significantly to basic biological science per se and to human health. Candidates for the Ph.D. degree in Cellular & Molecular Physiology are selected from the pool of students with a bachelor's or master's degree in science and a firm background in mathematics (and/or physics or chemistry) and biology. 35 investigators from 12 departments constitute the training faculty. Because the majority of integrative processes in biological systems depend upon membrane function, the training faculty is focused in cellular and membrane research including: 1) epithelial function; 2) mechanisms of membrane transport; 3) neuroscience including excitable membranes; 4) protein biosynthesis & intracellular transport; 5) structural biology; 6) cellular and intracellular signaling, cell growth, 7) muscle and molecular motors, and 8) cardiovascular, metabolic, and exercise physiology. In most of these groups, technical expertise spans organ physiology, membrane biophysics, biochemistry, and molecular biology and genetics, and protein structure. In addition to the training faculty and their laboratories, the facilities available to trainees include the more than 200 faculty in the interdepartmental Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) at Yale, as well as a broad range of modern core facilities.