Cancer & Cell Biology Graduate Program

Acquire the knowledge and skills you need to break barriers in cancer and cell biology.

Graduate Students (970x444)

The Cancer & Cell Biology Program provides broad, interdisciplinary training in the fundamentals of normal cell function and cancer, emphasizing a wide spectrum of genomic analyses to growth, invasion and metastasis.

Most of our faculty members are members of BCM’s National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center.  Many are also members of the BCM Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, which is ranked in the top five in the country for National Institute of Health funding. Collaboration is facilitated through multidisciplinary centers focused on cell and gene therapy, stem cell and regeneration and aging, which enhance the highly collaborative and interactive environment.

You will train with faculty members who have a prestigious record of achievement in advancing understanding of gene regulation, hormone action and cell signaling, genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, cancer-related immune therapies and reproductive medicine. 

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Our Program

We have incorporated the best elements of traditional graduate programs – academic rigor and stellar faculty – with flexibility that supports intensive academic training in small group formats while providing you the freedom and support necessary to design an individualized curriculum.  

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Graduate Students (372x158)

Where Will Your Ph.D. Take You?

Our program will give you the background and expertise needed to succeed in your scientific and professional career. Whatever your vision for your career entails, we will provide the training, resources and support to help you realize your ambition. 

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Cancer & Cell Biology News

credit: National Cancer Institute/Bruce Wetzel and Harry Schaefer
A potential new purpose for an old drug

BCM researchers have been screening Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved compounds for their ability to stop cancer growth of triple-negative breast cancer in an animal model of the disease. They focused on finding ways to disrupt the effects of a class of protein called Ras, which are powerful drivers of a wide range of cancers. In this proof-of-concept study, they have established a strategy to target N-Ras for therapy.

credit: National Cancer Institute
The lengths a cancer cell would go to survive

Oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes have long been implicated in tumor development. Traditionally, much attention has been focused on studying mutations in these genes that can lead to cancer development, but this approach has not been sufficient to explain all cancers. BCM researchers focused on mechanisms that could disrupt the normal regulation of the expression of these genes and the proteins that carry out the genes’ functions.

USP15 could be a target in ovarian cancer scientists have been looking for

Researchers have revealed that mutant p53 proteins might be the target scientists have been looking for to combat ovarian cancer. BCM researchers have identified a new opportunity for regulating p53.

credit: Circulating breast cancer cells. Credit: National Cancer Institute
This is what the Warburg pathway can do for breast cancer growth

The Warburg effect has been a mystery for quite some time. Why would cancer cells, which need large amounts of energy to sustain their growth, prefer to use a pathway that produces less ATP than another available pathway? What would be the advantage for cancer cells to use the Warburg pathway? This study sheds new light on this mystery.

The Cancer Genome Atlas ten-year study produces game changers for translational research

Historically, cancer patients have been classified according to the organs where primary tumors present at diagnosis, and clinical trials commonly test drugs that are designed to target cancers in a specific organ as well. The Cancer Genome Atlas project has contributed a new perspective to cancer classification that has implications for treatment.

G-quadruplex regulates breast cancer-associated gene

For breast cancer, carrying protein CD44s, instead of CD44v, has a survival advantage. Researchers have now discovered a mechanism by which cells can regulate switching between the two proteins, opening options for the development of novel therapeutic strategies to control cancer growth in the future.

credit: National Cancer Institute
Researchers target what makes triple negative breast cancer grow

Scientists have been looking for receptors —molecules on cancer cells — that promote the growth of cancers. But the receptors driving some cancer types like triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) have remained elusive to scientists, until now.

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Training Grant

The Cancer & Cell Biology Program is supported by National Institute of General Medical Sciences Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Predoctoral Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) Training Grant GM008231.

In order to earn this grant, our program successfully demonstrated that we provide high-quality research training, mentored research experiences, and additional training opportunities that equip trainees with the technical (e.g., appropriate methods, technologies, and quantitative/computational approaches), operational (e.g., independent knowledge acquisition, rigorous experimental design, and interpretation of data) and professional (e.g. management, leadership, communication, and teamwork) skills required for careers in the biomedical research workforce (i.e., the breadth of careers that sustain biomedical research in areas that are relevant to the NIH mission).