This program's mission is to provide students with:

  • Advanced knowledge in current concepts in molecular, cellular, and genetic processes that contribute to the development and treatment of cancer
  • Specialized training in experimental methodology used to study cancer in a laboratory setting
  • Required shadowing of clinical oncologists to help identify clinically-relevant research questions leading to projects with a potential impact on cancer patients

Learn about our program's curriculum

Curriculum Overview

The Graduate College requires the satisfactory completion of 72 semester hours in order to obtain a Ph.D.

Required Courses

For the first year, students take common courses with other Biomedical Science students.

Cancer is a term that encompasses over 210 different types of malignancies, each with a unique set of biological, etiological, and clinical features. Cancer researchers continue to widen their scope as more is learned, requiring a breadth of knowledge in many areas of research (e.g. cell biology, genetics, immunology, and cell metabolism) to understand the complexities of cancer etiology and treatment.

The Cancer Biology Program provides this knowledge through classroom and research training leading to a PhD degree, and preparing students for a variety of career paths in academic, clinical, and industry environments dealing with the study and/or treatment of cancer.

Students and Research Assistants in Dupuy Lab

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You can learn more about the application process and requirements here.

News

UI receives over $683 million in research funding in 2024

Thursday, August 15, 2024

AACR 2024 Presentations by students and faculty

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Events

Topics in Human Genetics promotional image

Topics in Human Genetics

Monday, July 7, 2025 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building
The course is open to individuals wishing to learn more about current topics in Human Genetics who meet the following criteria; individuals must have completed a course in genetics and are currently in a genetics lab, or have past genetics research experience. Genetics educators are also welcome to attend the course.The objective of the course is to provide persons familiar with genetics a broad overview of gene identification, molecular genetics, complex disease, next generation sequencing...

REDCap Basic Training

Tuesday, July 8, 2025 10:00am to 11:00am
Virtual
This is the first step in the REDCap training series. In this training, we will build a new REDCap project from scratch and cover basic features such as: • Building forms with proper field types and validation • Assigning user permissions • Project backup and overview with data dictionary, codebook, pdf, and xml • Ensuring your project works properly by testing with real world application • Making mid-study modifications safely after having started data collection in production • Creating...
Hardin Open Workshops - EndNote Desktop (Zoom) promotional image

Hardin Open Workshops - EndNote Desktop (Zoom)

Tuesday, July 8, 2025 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Virtual
EndNote is a reference management tool that helps you to easily gather together your references in one place, organize them, and then insert them into papers and format them in a style of your choosing. This session will walk you through the basics of using EndNote to collect and format your citations. The class will be hands-on, and there will be time for questions at the end.PLEASE NOTEClass will be taught via Zoom. Advance registration is required. Registrants will be emailed the Zoom link 30...