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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 five integrated
programs:
These 5 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
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