History and Overview of the Graduate Program in Life Sciences
We are in the midst of extraordinary and rapid change in the nature of biomedical research. The combination of technological advances leading to the sequencing of the human genome, as well as many experimental animal models, and the advent of new therapeutic approaches in a time of rapidly increasing globalization has revolutionized our understanding of human health and disease.
Steady funding provided to the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health and effective resource management by many private research foundations generate the resources need to continue to make the United States premier in the world of biomedical research.
The University of Maryland Baltimore is a leading research institution located in the nexus of biomedical research on the Northeast coast of North America. In order to continue to grown and maintain our competitive edge, in 2005 we reorganized our graduate training under the umbrella of the Graduate Program in Life Sciences (GPILS) and created eight integrated programs:
These 8 programs cover the entire range of biomedical research, from the basics of protein structure and molecular biology, through integrative systems physiology, virology and vaccine development up to behavior, cognition, population based genetics, prospective studies and the impact of the environment on human health.
Each independent degree granting program maintains its own admission criteria and standards for advancement through to graduation. Programs are independent from departments and consist of faculty in the basic science and clinical departments of the School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, The Institute for Human Virology and other UM campuses. The reorganized structure provides greater coordination between and within the graduate programs in order to better serve the training and education needs of our graduate students. We strive to train the next generation of scientists and to provide them the tools for solving the many problems facing mankind today and to anticipate and hopefully prevent those emerging in the future.
Margaret M. McCarthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies, School of Medicine
Professor, Department of Physiology