Curriculum in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (GRAD)

Modern biology, in this postgenome age, is being greatly enriched by an infusion of ideas from a variety of computational fields, including computer science, information science, mathematics, operations research, and statistics. In turn, biological problems are motivating innovations in these computational sciences. There is a high demand for scientists who can bridge these disciplines. The goal of the Curriculum in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BCB) is to train such scientists through a rigorous and balanced curriculum that transcends traditional departmental boundaries.

Incoming students are expected to matriculate from a broad range of disciplines; thus, it is important to ensure that all students have a common foundation on which to build their BCB training. The first year is dedicated to establishing this foundation and training all students with a common set of core BCB courses. BCB students will also participate in three laboratory research rotations their first year and ultimately join a laboratory at the end of those rotations. Research work is done in the laboratory facilities of the individual faculty member and is supported primarily by faculty research grants.

Curriculum faculty have appointments in 18 departments in the School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, School of Information and Library Science, and the College of Arts and Sciences. This provides students with a broad range of research opportunities.

Requirements for Admission for Graduate Work

Ideal BCB candidates should have an undergraduate degree in a biological, physical, mathematical, or computational science. They must apply to the program through a unified application program known as the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program (BBSP). Students apply for graduate study in the biological or biomedical sciences at UNC–Chapel Hill. Students interested in any of the BBSP research areas apply to BBSP, and those whose application portfolio places them highest on the admission list are asked to visit Chapel Hill for interviews. Students who are ultimately admitted to UNC–Chapel Hill make no formal commitment to a Ph.D. program. After completing their first year of study students leave BBSP, join a thesis laboratory, and matriculate into one of 14 participating Ph.D. programs. During their first year BBSP students are part of small, interest-based groups led by several faculty members. These groups meet frequently and provide a research community for students until they join a degree-granting program. Students are encouraged to apply as early as possible, preferably before December 1. (Applicants seeking a master's degree are not considered for admission.)

Financial Aid

Stipends for predoctoral students are available from an NIH predoctoral training grant and from the University. Tuition, student fees, and graduate student health insurance are also covered by the training grant and the University.

Courses

Numbered 700-999:

• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BCB)

Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Master's Degree (M.S.)

Modern biology is being greatly enriched by an infusion of ideas from computational and mathematical fields, including computer science, information science, mathematics, operations research and statistics. In turn, biological problems are motivating innovations in these computational sciences. There is a high demand for scientists who can bridge these disciplines. The goal of the Curriculum in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology is to train such scientists through a rigorous and balanced curriculum that transcends traditional departmental boundaries.

This is an "exit master's degree", and is available only to students transferring out of the Ph.D. curriculum in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BCB), and with permission of the BCB Director.

Course Requirements

¹

This 1-credit course must be taken four times.

²

This 1-credit course must be taken twice.

Milestones

The following list of milestones (non-course degree requirements) must be completed; view this list of standard milestone definitions for more information.

• Master's Committee
• Master's Written Exam/Approved Exam Substitute
• Thesis Substitute
• Thesis/Substitute Defense
• Approved Master's Thesis
• Residence Credit
• Master's Exit Survey

Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Doctoral Degree (Ph.D.)

Modern biology is being greatly enriched by an infusion of ideas from computational and mathematical fields, including computer science, information science, mathematics, operations research and statistics. In turn, biological problems are motivating innovations in these computational sciences. There is a high demand for scientists who can bridge these disciplines. The goal of the Curriculum in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology is to train such scientists through a rigorous and balanced curriculum that transcends traditional departmental boundaries.

Course Requirements

¹

This 1-credit course must be taken twice in its spring offering and twice in its fall offering.

Milestones

The following list of milestones (non-course degree requirements) must be completed; view this list of standard milestone definitions for more information.

• Doctoral Committee
• Doctoral Oral Comprehensive Exam
• Doctoral Written Exam
• Prospectus Oral Exam
• Dissertation Defense
• Doctoral Dissertation Approved/Format Accepted
• Residence Credit
• Doctoral Exit Survey
• Doctoral Teaching Experience
• Doctoral Manuscript Submission
• Doctoral Intradepartmental Review
• Doctoral Research Presentation

Professors

Shawn Ahmed, Genetics; Biology
Jim Bear, Cell Biology and Physiology
Kerry Bloom, Biology
Charles Carter, Biochemistry and Biophysics
Ian Davis, Genetics; Pediatrics
Dirk Dittmer, Microbiology and Immunology
Henrik Dohlman, Pharmacology; Biochemistry and Biophysics
Timothy Elston, Pharmacology; Computational Medicine
Gregory Forest, Math; Biomedical Engineering
Flavio Frohlich, Psychiatry; Cell Biology and Physiology; Biomedical Engineering; Neurology
Terry Furey, Genetics; Biology
Shawn Gomez, Biomedical Engineering
Boyce Griffith, Mathematics; Biomedical Engineering
Melissa Haendel, Genetics; Pediatrics
Klaus Hahn, Pharmacology; Medicinal Chemistry
Corbin Jones, Biology; Genetics
Brian Kuhlman, Biochemistry and Biophysics
Alain Laederach, Biology
Sam Lai, School of Pharmacy
Yun Li, Genetics; Biostatistics
Yufeng Liu, Statistics & Operations Research; Biostatistics; Genetics
Amy Shaub Maddox, Biology
Terry Magnuson, Genetics
Steve Marron, Statistics and Operations Research
William Marzluff, Biochemistry and Biophysics
Karen Mohlke, Genetics
Fernando Pardo-Manuel de Villena, Genetics
Charles Perou, Genetics; Pathology & Laboratory Medicine; Computational Medicine; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Jan Prins, Computer Science
Jeremy Purvis, Genetics; Computational Medicine
Jack Snoeyink, Computer Science
John Sondek, Pharmacology; Biochemistry and Biophysics
Brian Strahl, Biochemistry and Biophysics
Alex Tropsha, Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
William Valdar, Genetics; Biostatistics
Pew-Thian Yap, Radiology
Fei Zou, Biostatistics; Genetics
Mark Zylka, Neuroscience Center; Cell Biology and Physiology

Associate Professors

J. Mauro Calabrese, Pharmacology; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Brian Diekman, Biomedical Engineering; Thurston Arthritis Research Center
Jill Dowen, Biochemistry and Biophysics; Biology
Erin Heinzen, Genetics; Pharmacotherapy & Experimental Therapeutics
Bradley Hemminger, School of Information and Library Science
Katherine Hoadley, Genetics; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Samir Kelada, Genetics
Daphne Klotsa, Applied Physical Sciences
Karin Leiderman, Mathematics 
Jun Li, School of Data Science and Society
Sarah Linnstaedt, Anesthesiology
Mike Love, Genetics; Biostatistics
Adrian Marchetti, Marine Sciences
Daniel McKay, Biology; Genetics
Yinglong Miao, Pharmacology; Computational Medicine
Jonathan Parr, Medicine
Konstantin Popov, Biochemistry and Biophysics
Daniel Schrider, Genetics
Shehzad Sheikh, Genetics; Medicine
Jason Stein, Genetics; Neuroscience Research Center 
Benjamin Vincent, Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology
Todd Vision, Biology; School of Information and Library Science 
Jeremy Wang, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; Genetics
Di Wu, Periodontics, School of Dentistry; Biostatistics
Anthony Zannas, Psychiatry; Genetics

Assistant Professors

Tessa Andermann, Medicine
Elizabeth Brunk, Pharmacology; Chemistry
Iain Carmichael, Pathology; Data Science
Daniel Dominguez, Pharmacology
Laura Ferguson, Pharmacology; Psychiatry
Parul Johri, Biology; Genetics
Wesley Legant, Biomedical Engineering; Pharmacology
Xihao Li, Biostatistics; Genetics
Qingyun Liu, Genetics
Yusha Liu, Biostatistics
Brian Miller, Medicine - Oncology
Adam Palmer, Pharmacology
Doug Phanstiel, Cell Biology and Physiology
Elisa Pieri, Chemistry
Jesse Raab, Genetics
Laura Raffield, Genetics
Christoph Rau, Genetics; Computational Medicine
Alexander Rubinsteyn, Genetics; Computational Medicine
Jonathan Schisler, Pharmacology
Natalie Stanley, Computer Science; Genetics
Hyejung Won, Genetics
Huaxiu Yao, Computer Science; School of Data Science and Society
Daiwei (David) Zhang, Biostatistics; Genetics
Ran Zhang, School of Data Science and Society
Tarek Zikry, School of Data Science and Society