Molecular
and Cellular Pathology
Research
Opportunities
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The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine provides an excellent environment for performance of research on varied topics related to mechanisms of disease pathogenesis. Research laboratories with affiliation to the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine are housed in the Brinkhous-Bullitt Building, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Thurston-Bowles Building, the Neuroscience Research Center, the Mary Ellen Jones Building, MacNider Hall, Rosenau Hall, and the Francis Owen Blood Research Laboratories. Departmental and institutional support facilities include core laboratories for animal clinical chemistry and gene expression, animal models, biostatistics, chromosome imaging, DNA sequencing, flow cytometry, animal histopathology, microarray-based gene expression analysis, microscopy, oligonucleotide synthesis, proteomics and mass spectroscopy, tissue culture, and other core laboratories in the School of Medicine. In addition to these facilities, the UNC Lineberger Cancer Center offers a number of core facilities to support basic and clinical research. The faculty are associated with a number of different interdisciplinary curricula, centers and programs housed within the UNC School of Medicine. Opportunities for collaborative and multidisciplinary research projects are numerous, among investigators from UNC-CH and investigators at nearby research facilities located in Research Triangle Park, including the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and numerous pharmaceutical companies. |
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The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine has a long history of competitively funded research programs. The number of funded research projects and total research revenues of the department have shown steady increases over recent years. For fiscal year 2001-2002, research programs in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine were funded at the aggregate level of approximately $24.8 million. The sources of these research funds vary, with the bulk of the funds coming from competitively awarded research grants and contracts from the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies. In addition, the UNC-CH Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine annually ranks among the top recipients of NIH research funds to pathology departments. The UNC-CH Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine ranked 9th in 2002 and 14th in 2003 nationally among pathology departments receiving NIH research funds. In 2003, the UNC-CH Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine received $12.9 million in research funding from the NIH. |
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Funding for Molecular and Cellular Pathology Ph.D. students is derived from various sources within the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the UNC-CH. Support for first-year students may be derived from specific Departmental funds, training grants (see below), or University funds. Funds from the Graduate School and University include the UNC Graduate School Merit Fellowship, and other competitive University awards. Funding from the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine includes the Bill Sykes Scholarship Award and the Wagner Scholars Program. Several predoctoral training programs are available to support Molecular and Cellular Pathology Graduate students with the appropriate qualifications and research interests. The Environmental Pathology Training Program seeks to develop scientists who combine an understanding of human disease pathogenesis and expertise in experimental pathology research methods. The research topics pursued by preceptor faculty in this program are diverse, but tend towards mutagenesis, carcinogenesis, and other topics related to cancer research. This training program funds a total of six Molecular and Cellular Pathology Ph.D. students, with one or two new trainees added on an annual basis. The Integrative Vascular Biology Training Program is a second training grant-supported program that funds Ph.D. students. The goal of this program is to train students capable of solving problems in vascular disease in the post-genomic era, implementing an integrative approach to studies of complex model systems through multidisciplinary collaborations. The Integrative Vascular Biology Training Program supports a total of seven Ph.D. students from various departments and curricula. Currently, five Molecular and Cellular Pathology Ph.D. students are supported by this training program. |
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The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UNC-CH maintains an eclectic faculty in order to carry out diverse departmental functions, including a broad range of teaching responsibilities, active and diverse research programs, laboratory animal medicine services, hospital medical services related to clinical laboratory medicine, diagnostic and forensic pathology, surgical pathology, and cytology. Therefore, the primary focus and range of activities for individual faculty members vary, and may not include direct participation in graduate training or basic research. Nonetheless, these individuals represent valuable resources to the graduate students in pathology and other graduate programs at UNC-CH. For these reasons, we include among our Research Faculty the departmental faculty and the adjunct faculty members who directly or indirectly participate in graduate training. Detailed information on major research groups and research profiles of faculty members whose laboratories offer excellent research environments for training of graduate students can be found by following the links provided. Other faculty members from the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine can be found in the Complete Listing of Pathology Faculty. Molecular and Cellular Pathology basic research faculty are associated with a number of other graduate curricula, and programs and research centers located at UNC School of Medicine, enhancing opportunities for productive collaborations in research. |
