Graduate Program

The Department of Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, offers graduate programs leading to the MSc and PhD degrees in cell biology. The Department provides a world-class training environment in a range of areas including organelle biogenesis and disease, virology, cancer apoptosis and signal transduction, proteomics, molecular evolution, RNA biology, chaperones and pathogen-host interactions, and spinal cord injury. Through a strong independent research program, complemented by seminars and formal coursework, students are trained to identify important problems, critically analyze scientific information and effectively communicate their results.

The Department is located primarily on two floors of the Medical Sciences Building and is endowed with state of the art equipment needed to perform experimental work in modern cell biology. These include extensive microscopy and tissue culture facilities, a transmission electron microscope and image analysis system, 2-D gel analysis set-up for proteomics, imaging systems for detection of radioactive or light-emitting gels or blots, chromatography systems for protein purification and biochemical analysis, microinjection facilities, as well as cold rooms, dark rooms, ultracentrifuges and scintillation counters. Staff and students also have access to several facilities within the Medical Sciences Building for global analysis using proteomics, confocal microscopy, and antibody production, as well as peptide synthesis and sequencing. Research funding, primarily from agencies such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Alberta Innovates-Health Solutions and the Canada Foundation for Innovation amounts to over $4 million each year.

General information on Graduate Studies at the University of Alberta can be found at this link to the homepage of The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

Information about the Cell Biology Graduate Students' Association can be found here.