Overview

The Cancer Biology Graduate Program was established in 1997 within the Graduate School of Arts and Science at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.  Though the program is among the youngest, it has become one of the most successful and popular programs within the Graduate School.  The program gave its first PhD degree in 2001.  By 2009, 29 students had graduated with a PhD degree in Cancer Biology.  Many of these students are continuing their scientific career as postdoctoral fellows at excellent institutions, such as St. Jude Children’s Hospital, University of Pennsylvania, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University, EPA, NIEHS and Duke University.  The average time to graduation is five years, which is within the national average.

The Cancer Biology Department is one of only eight Cancer Biology-specific Departments nationwide, and provides immediate exposure to cancer-related topics.  The graduate program within this department has been supported by an NCI-funded training grant for the past 10 years. 

Objectives

The objectives of the Cancer Biology training program are to train scholars and promote research in Cancer Biology within a highly personal atmosphere.  The program is kept deliberately small to provide individual mentoring and teaching opportunities.  As such, the program accepts up to eight students each year.  Training is provided by a highly motivated faculty body that consists of 14 primary Cancer Biology faculty and 25 cross-appointed faculty from a total 12 departments.  This approach provides a unique interdisciplinary training environment without losing focus on the cancer problem.

Cutting edge research and newest technologies are incorporated into the curriculum via collaborations with e.g. the Center for Nanotechnology or the Center for Regenerative Medicine.  Several tutorials allow exposure to latest technologies and research areas in an integrative way; these range from computational approaches, spectroscopy and other biophysical methods to cell biology and nanomedicine. 

The Cancer Biology Graduate program prepares its students to become successful scientists by providing amble opportunities for learning to and presenting research in written and oral presentations, as we believe these to be necessary qualities for a successful scientific career.