The School of Medicine Basic Sciences comprises the four departments listed below. Each of these departments attracts talented and high-achieving faculty, Ph.D. students, postdoctoral scholars, and staff. Over the last decade, our departments have been consistently represented within the top 10 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding compared with similar departments at other U.S. research institutions and universities, as measured by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.
Each of our departments has a corresponding Ph.D. program, but students in other biomedical Ph.D. programs can do their dissertation work within these SOMBS departments.
Departments
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Department of Biochemistry
The Department of Biochemistry is dedicated to discovering the fundamental mechanisms of biological processes, connecting these discoveries to clinical applications that improve human health, and training the next generation of biomedical scientists. Our investigators apply advanced approaches in structural biology, mass spectrometry, chemical biology, cell biology, and genetics to research areas including DNA and RNA metabolism, cell division, enzymology, molecular cancer biology, signaling, toxicology, and metabolism. Although our investigators work across diverse fields, we are united by a common goal: seeking molecular answers to important biomedical questions. The department has a rich history of scientific discovery, including research that contributed to today’s nutritional standards and Nobel Prize-winning discoveries in growth factor biology. This legacy provides a foundation for our current research, led by faculty who are recognized leaders in their fields and across Vanderbilt. Our outstanding laboratories and Vanderbilt’s highly collaborative research environment provide students and postdoctoral fellows with exceptional training as they prepare for the next stages of their careers.
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Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
The Department of Cell and Developmental Biology provides a vibrant, interdisciplinary environment for cutting-edge research that covers a scale spanning seven powers of ten, from single molecules to whole organisms. The difference between a test tube and a cell is spatio-temporal organization; we study molecular, cellular, and tissue organization, seeking insights into fundamental biological questions and human disease. The department is interactive and highly collaborative, with outstanding core facilities, a strong graduate student association, and exceptionally talented faculty. Highlights of research within the department include super-resolution cell imaging, cryo-tomography, spatial transcriptomics and single cell biology, mass spectrometry imaging, organoid biology, neural development, computational and systems biology, drug discovery, cell signaling, the biology of aging, mechanisms of tissue lineage specification, and cancer biology.
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Department Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
The Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics is a basic science department with diverse interests that include gene regulation and cell signaling, genetics, obesity, diabetes and metabolism, neuroscience, and structural biology and biophysics. One of the school’s two Nobel laureates, Earl Sutherland, pioneered research on cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP while working in the department. The Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics has historic strengths in diabetes that carry on through today.
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Department of Pharmacology
The Department of Pharmacology is one of the most distinguished pharmacology departments in the country. Research interests include seven major areas: bioactive lipids, cancer biology, drug discovery, molecular basis of neuropsychiatric signaling, neuronal communication and synaptic signaling, signal transduction mechanisms, and structural biology. Molecules under investigation include G-protein coupled receptors, heterotrimeric G-proteins, ion channels, transporters and regulatory proteins such as arrestins, protein kinases and protein phosphatases. The department provides training focused on critical thinking to promote innovation, scholarship, and integrity and fosters creativity, collegiality, and leadership.