Major emphases are neuroscience and cell biology.
The faculty is involved in studies of the mechanisms of cell proliferation and differentiation, molecular biology of disease, tissue-specific gene regulation, molecular and genetic regulation of fat cell biogenesis, gene regulation during cell differentiation, and the regulation of gene expression during development. Department of Molecular Genetics Studies include mammalian somatic-cell genetics and cytogenetics, the regulation of gene expression, gene therapy, control of cell growth and differentiation, mechanisms of mutagenesis, tumor biology and cancer genetics, as well as molecular virology and transgenic mice as disease models. Department of Microbiology and Immunology Programs take place in molecular and cellular microbiology, molecular immunology and virology, as well as prokaryotic and eukaryotic molecular genetics, microbial pathogenesis, tumor immunology, gene therapy for cancer, programmed cell death, nucleic acid-protein interactions, protein structure, and prokaryotic and eukaryotic gene regulation at the transcriptional and translational levels. Department of Pathology Opportunities for studies in ultrastructural pathology, quantitative microscopy, liver disease, and image analysis. Studies are also underway on the molecular biology of oncogenes, multidrug resistance and atherosclerosis, and the use of transgenic mice as models of human disease.