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.

A campus visual from the Carver College of Medicine outdoor lawn space.

Ready to apply?

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

Events

Mobile Clinic - Coralville Public Library promotional image

Mobile Clinic - Coralville Public Library

Sunday, October 4, 2026 12:30pm to 3:30pm
Coralville Public Library
Mobile Clinic
Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Seminar, Jean-Ju Chung, PhD promotional image

Molecular Physiology and Biophysics Seminar, Jean-Ju Chung, PhD

Tuesday, October 6, 2026 9:30am to 10:30am
Bowen Science Building

REDCap Basic Training

Tuesday, October 6, 2026 10:00am to 11:30am
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 and...