The Human Medical Genetics Program at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center is a relatively new, interdisciplinary Ph.D. program designed to provide research training in the rapidly developing area of human genetics, especially as it regards medical aspects of the discipline. During the first year of study, a basic core curriculum provides the student with a general background in biological sciences and includes advanced biochemistry, cell and developmental biology, eukaryotic genetics, and molocular biology. Experimental approaches to areas in human genetics are introduced after the core curriculum and include population genetics and introduction to human genetic disease, among other topics. Throughout their years of graduate study, students participate in the seminar program in which visiting speakers, faculty, and students discuss current topics in human genetics.
Speakers meet with students as a group to discuss science in an intimate and interactive setting.
Also during this time, students take additional coursework which is directly related to their research interests. The latter coursework is kept to a minimum and may include courses in the medical school curriculum to obtain a better background in medical aspects of human biology. Following successful completion of three laboratory rotations during the first year, students select a laboratory of the training faculty in which to carry out their dissertation research. Research opportunities are offered in a broad range of interdisciplinary areas including cancer genetics, genomics, human genetic and chromosomal disease, inherited metabolic disease, basic human molecular biology, and structural investigations of mutant human proteins and nucleic acids. The wide range of research interests represented by a diverse faculty group allows a multifaceted focus on human medical genetics.