Biomolecular Signal Transduction
Program Overview
Program Director: Jeffery Benovic, Ph.D.
The Training Program in Biomolecular Signal Transduction provides broad interdisciplinary training in the field of signal transduction at both predoctoral and postdoctoral levels. Program faculty are drawn from several basic science and clinical science departments at Thomas Jefferson University: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Cancer Biology; Pathology, Cell Biology and Anatomy; Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and the division of Cardiology and the Center for Translational Medicine in the department of Medicine. Most are members of the Kimmel Cancer Center.
Specific training areas include growth factor and G protein-coupled receptor signaling, signal integration, protein targeting and trafficking, cell cyle regulation, apoptosis, mechanisms of viral infection, chemical genetic approaches to regulation of protein function in cells, mechanisms involved in cardiovascular disease with emphasis on receptor signaling pathways, biochemical and biophysical strategies to understand mechanisms of cellular trafficking, and the role of caveolin in signaling and disease. The overall goal of the program is to provide aspiring researchers with the training and experience necessary to establish careers as independent investigators.
Members of the Biomolecular Signal Transduction Program:
- Jeffrey L. Benovic, PhD
- Emad Alnemri, PhD
- Renato Baserga, MD
- Gyorgy Hajnóczky, MD, PhD
- Jan Hoek, PhD
- Ya-Ming Hou, PhD
- Renato Iozzo, MD
- Suresh K. Joseph, PhD
- James H. Keen, PhD
- Erik Knudsen, PhD
- Karen Knudsen, PhD
- Walter J. Koch, PhD
- Michael P. Lisanti, MD, PhD
- Diane Merry, PhD
- Marja Nevalainen, MD, PhD
- Michael J. Root, MD, PhD
- Hallgeir Rui, MD, PhD
- Charles Scott, PhD
- Scott Waldman, MD, PhD
- Philip Wedegaertner, PhD
- Edward Winter, PhD
The pre-doctoral training program is open to students in the PhD Programs in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Molecular Pharmacology and Structural Biology whose thesis research is in the field of signal transduction, who have completed most of the required course work for their specific program, and who will soon complete or have completed the Preliminary Examination. Additional information about these PhD Programs can be found here.
For the postdoctoral program, applicants must hold a Ph.D., M.D., or equivalent doctoral degree, and acceptance will depend upon past research excellence, educational experience, and career goals. We provide a multidisciplinary research environment in which trainees can collaborate with faculty engaged in a wide range of problems using a variety of approaches all focused on furthering our understanding of cell signaling and its role in disease. The program emphasizes the development of basic research skills and expertise as well as the rapidly expanding field of translational research. Taking what is developed in the laboratory and applying the knowledge in the clinic is the crucial link between the laboratory and the patient. This is accomplished by:
- close interaction with clinical programs at Jefferson Medical College
- the inclusion of several physician scientists in the Biomolecular Signal Transduction Program that enhance the level of translational research, and
- a monthly Translational Research Symposia series that post-doctoral fellows must attend.
The program is designed to prepare post-doctoral trainees for employment in academia, government or industry.
For program information contact:
Joanne Balitzky, Graduate Programs Coordinator, KCC
Telephone: 215-503-6687
Fax: 215-923-1098
E-mail: J_Balitzky@kimmelcancercenter.org