2024-2025 Graduate Catalog
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BIOC)
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BRIAN CULLUM, Chair
MICHAEL F. SUMMERS, Graduate Program Co-Director
GERALD WILSON, Graduate Program Co-Director
Degrees Offered
Ph.D. (Degree Types )
Faculty
Professors
CULLUM, BRIAN M., Ph.D., University of South Carolina; Development of optical sensors and optical-sensing techniques for biomedical and environmental research
ROSENZWEIG, ZEEV, Ph.D., The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; Synthesis of Benign by Design Optical Nanomaterials that minimally impact environmental and biological systems while retaining desirable functionalists
SELEY-RADTKE, KATHERINE., Ph.D., Auburn University; The discovery, design and synthesis of nucleoside/nucleotide and heterocyclic enzyme inhibitors for use as medicinal agents with chemotherapeutic emphasis in the areas of anticancer, antiviral, antibiotic and antiparasitic targets
SUMMERS, MICHAEL F., Ph.D., Emory University, Howard Hughes Medical Investigator; NMR and biophysical studies of retroviral genome recognition, virus assembly and macro-molecular interactions
Associate Professors
AN, SONGON, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University; Cellular biochemistry of metabolic multienzyme complexes in living cells
KELLY, LISA A., Ph.D., Bowling Green University; Mechanistic investigations of visible-light-induced redox reactions using laser flash photolysis techniques, with particular emphasis on developing synthetic chemical assemblies that efficiently undergo chemical redox reactions with biological substrates
KANN, MARICEL., Ph.D., University of Michigan; The availability of genomic data derived from hundreds of genome projects has generated a great challenge: to understand the complexity of biological process and to decipher the mechanisms that lead to healthy or diseased organisms
SMITH, PAUL J., Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh; Bio-organic and physical organic chemistry; biomimetic catalysis, DNA structure and DNA binding by small molecules
For a list of UMB Biochemistry and Molecular Biology faculty, please visit UMB Graduate Program Faculty.
Program Description
This is an inter-campus program, combining two departments: the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UMBC and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the School of Medicine at UMB. The two departments together offer a single course of study leading to the doctoral in Biochemistry. Students entering this joint program have the benefit of the extensive facilities and resources of the departments on both campuses, and they have the chance to interact with a large pool of scientists with a wide spectrum of research interests.
The doctoral program is administered by a graduate committee consisting of eight faculty members. Committee members for the 2014-present term are M.F. Summers (chair), G.M. Wilson (co-chair), A. Drohat, J. Fishbein, E. Garcin, A. Kontrogianni-Konstantopoulis, and D. Weber.
Program Specialties
The following is a list of some of the research specialties available within both of the participating departments.
In the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (UMBC), research areas include structure-function studies of nucleic acid helix-destabilizing proteins, model systems for enzyme mechanisms, development of synthetic methods for synthesis of natural products and nucleosides, reactions of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon epoxides, infrared and Raman spectroscopy of phospholipid membrane systems, structures of complex carbohydrates, molecular modeling, NMR of metallobiomolecules, gene regulation, DNA binding by small molecules, drug interactions with metalloproteins, mechanisms of drug resistance, photochemistry of nucleic acids, bioanalytical and biomedical applications of mass spectrometry, and relationship studies between molecular geometry and reactivity in biological systems.
The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (School of Medicine, UMB) offers a wide range of research interests, with particular strengths in molecular biology, protein structure and function, membrane biochemistry and physical biochemistry. These areas include molecular genetics of bacterial transformation genes, phage molecular biology, DNA packaging and morphogenesis, enzymology of DNA mismatch repair, fidelity of transcription, gene expression in muscle development, molecular biology of drug resistance, protein targeting and translocation in eukaryotic cells, molecular energy transduction within enzymes, hemoglobin structure function and blood-substitute design, structure of membrane and contractile proteins, membrane signal transduction mechanisms and proteins, receptor-mediated signaling in heart and brain cells, ion pores and enzymatic catalysis, biochemistry of reproduction in ovarian cells, intra- cellular calcium movements during muscle activation, molecular mechanism of muscle contraction, molecular physiology of allosteric systems and biophysical applications of fuorescence spectroscopy.
Program Admission Requirements
Students wishing to enter the Ph.D. program in biochemistry will be required to meet the basic minimum standards for admission to the University of Maryland, Baltimore Graduate School, and to receive the approval of the UMB-UMBC graduate committee. Such approval normally will be based upon undergraduate grades, letters of recommendation, Graduate Record Examination scores and, wherever possible, personal interviews. Previous success in graduate education will be taken into consideration. All original application documents must be sent directly to the Graduate School, not to the graduate program. Each entering student will be expected to satisfy minimum requirements in the fields of organic chemistry and either physical chemistry or introductory biology. If the undergraduate record of the student does not demonstrate to the satisfaction of the UMB-UMBC graduate committee that all these requirements have been met, the student will be given a choice of taking a placement examination in the deficient area(s) or taking the appropriate course(s) from among the following (or their equivalent): CHEM 351, 352, Organic Chemistry [3,3]; CHEM 301, 302, Physical Chemistry [4,3]; BIOL 100, Concepts of Biology [4]; BIOL 303, Cell Biology [3]. Students with deficiencies in all these areas will not ordinarily be considered for admission.
Facilities and Special Resources
UMBC students are offered hands-on access to an extensive array of tools for modern chemical and biochemical research. The department’s specialized research instrumentation includes calorimetry, chromatography, stopped-flow and temperature-jump kinetics, transient laser spectroscopy (including nanosecond laser flash photolysis, pico-second and femto-second pump-probe, and pico-second fluorescence systems), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (including one 200-, one 400-, one cryoprobe-equipped 500-, two 600- and one 800-MHz instruments), X-band CW electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometry, circular dichroism, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, atomic absorption- and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry apparatus, as well as extensive molecular modeling and computational chemistry facilities.
In addition to TOF/FT, a laser desorbtion mass spectrometer, and both 500- and 600- MHz NMRs, the department houses one of the few 12 T FTICR mass spectrometers located in academic institutions worldwide. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute suite houses a second 600- and an 800-MHz NMR instrument, both of which are used for high-dimensional studies of HIV proteins, metallobiomolecules and macromolecular interactions. Access to principal journals is available in the Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery.
The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (School of Medicine, UMB) is an extensive research facility located in the Biomedical Research Facility. Equipment within the department includes analytical and preparative ultra-centrifuges; spectro-polarimetry facilities; automated amino acid analyzers; protein-sequencing and peptide-synthesizing equipment; photon-counting spectrofuorometry instrumentation; milli- and nanosecond spectrofuorometer; phase-modulation lifetime fuorometer; fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM); rapid-quench and stopped-flow kinetic instrumentation; multiple high-performance liquid chromatography facilities; full facilities for analytical electron and confocal microscopy; controlled environment rooms and extensive radioactive counting and imaging, cell culture and other centralized facilities. The Center for Fluorescence Spectroscopy is located nearby on the UMB campus, while the NMR Facility including its 950 MHz instrument is located in the Health Sciences Facility. The students also have access to the Molecular Graphics Facility located in the Biomedical Research Facility.
Outplacement Success
Graduates of the program continue their training with post-doctoral appointments or obtain employment at such competitive and prestigious institutions or corporations as Scripps Institute (CA), Howard Hughes Medical Institutes, NIH, Cornell University and Eli Lilly, as well as at many local and national biotechnology firms.
Financial Assistance
Financial assistance is available on a competitive basis to students accepted into the program. Qualified first-year students usually are offered teaching or research assistantships on a competitive basis. Research assistantships are often available for students actively engaged in thesis research. In addition, students are encouraged to apply for nationally awarded graduate fellowships, such as those offered by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health.
Course Listing
See Chemistry (CHEM) program and Biological Sciences (BIOL) program for additional courses.
ProgramsDoctor of PhilosophyCoursesUMB Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine (MBIC)
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