Program Curriculum

Rotations

During their first year, students will rotate through three independent laboratories. Those rotations will allow students to attain experimental knowledge in various disciplines within cancer biology. At the end of those three rotations students will select a laboratory for their dissertation research.

Courses

Required courses are typically completed by the second year. Courses include Principles of Cancer Biology, Introductory Graduate Seminar, Values in Science & Bioethics, Advanced Graduate Seminar, Hypothesis Design and Grant Writing, Cancer Pharmacology, Advanced Graduate Research, Design & Analysis of Experiments (Biostatistics), Cancer Clinical Colloquium. Elective courses include Eukaryotic Chromosome Organization/Function, Human Genetics, Bioinformatics, Population Biology and Evolution of Disease, and Genetic Epidemiology.

Year 1 - Fall
Course #	Course Name/Notes	Credits*	Credits AS**
CB 533	Principles of Cancer Biology I	7	7
CB 570r	Introductory Graduate Seminar	2	2
CB 597r	Laboratory Rotations***	2	2
CB790r	Advanced Graduate Seminar	2	2
JPE 600	Jones Program in Ethics (1 day)	0	0

Year 1 - Spring
Course #	Course Name/Notes	Credits*	Credits AS**
CB 534	Principles of Cancer Biology II	7	7
CB 570r	Introductory Graduate Seminar	2	2
CB 597r	Laboratory Rotations***	2	2
CB790r	Advanced Graduate Seminar	2	2

Year 1 - Summer
Course #	Course Name/Notes	Credits*	Credits AS**
CB699r	Advanced Research (until approved for candidacy) Advisor chosen, dissertation research underway, TATTO training Part 1 Qualifying Exam (May/June)	9	9

Year 2 - Fall
Course #	Course Name/Notes	Credits*	Credits AS**
IBS 761	Cancer Pharmacology	3	3
IBS 790r	Advanced Graduate Seminar	2	2
IBS 699r	Advanced Research (until approved for candidacy)	4	0
IBS XXX	Elective #	3-4	3-4

Year 2 - Spring
Course #	Course Name/Notes	Credits*	Credits AS**
IBS 790r	Advanced Graduate Seminar	2	2
IBS 522r	Hypothesis Design and Grant Writing	4	4
IBS 562	Advanced Topics - Cancer Clinical Colloquium	2	2
CB 699r	Advanced Research (until approved for candidacy)	3	0
IBS XXX	Elective # : Part 2 Qualifying Exam (to be completed by June)	3-4	3-4

Year 2 - Summer
Course #	Course Name/Notes	Credits*	Credits AS**
CB 799r	Dissertation Research Dissertation committee chosen; first committee meeting scheduled for Fall	9	9

Year 3 and Beyond
Course #	Course Name/Notes	Credits*	Credits AS**
CB 799r	Dissertation Research	variable/to make total units = 9 per semester	0
IBS 790r	Advanced Graduate Seminar	2	2

Recommended Electives (Fall)
Course #	Course Name/Notes
IBS 746	Graduate Human Genetics
IBS 500r	Intro Data Analytics
IBS 542	Concepts of Immunology

Recommended Electives (Spring)
Course #	Course Name/Notes
IBS 538	Design and Analysis of Experiments
IBS 561	Eukaryotic Chromosome Organization/Function
IBS 574	Computational Biology & Bioinformatics
IBS 522	Hypothesis Design and Grant Writing
IBS 746	Human Genetics

Note About Electives:

The list of available courses is continually changing so students must consult the current Laney Graduate School Course Atlas to obtain accurate information. Not every elective course is offered every semester or every year.

*Credits = Credits counting toward full-time status for that semester (must total at least 9 per semester)

**Credits to AS = Credits acknowledged by Laney Graduate School that count toward the 24 needed to achieve Advanced Standing

**Credits to Cn = Course credits acknowledged by Laney Graduate School that count toward 16 needed to achieve Candidacy

***Credits for Fall Term Laboratory Rotations are awarded in Spring Term, when final grade is determined after completion of all 3 rotations. # Students will be required to take two Elective courses totaling at least 7 credit hours in year 2 which will be applied toward their requirement for candidacy