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

Live from Prairie Lights |  Meghan O’Gieblyn in conversation with Dr. Alison Lynch — "Will and Attention" promotional image

Live from Prairie Lights | Meghan O’Gieblyn in conversation with Dr. Alison Lynch — "Will and Attention"

Thursday, October 8, 2026 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Prairie Lights Books

Meghan O’Gieblyn in conv with Dr. Alison Lynch - Will and Attention
Meghan O’Gieblyn will read from her new memoir, Will and Attention, and will be joined in conversation with Dr. Alison Lynch. Described as a "luminous memoir of secret drinking, fragile recovery, and the deep pull of religion," Will and Attention is praised by bestselling author Jia Tolentino as "one of the best memoirs of the decade," while University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program professor and bestselling author Melissa Febos says: "An elegant and philosophical memoir about addiction whose stakes are no less than what comprises one's will to live, what it means to be good, and the worth of devotion. I savored equally O'Gieblyn's sentences and the turns of her thought—at once precise as the cut of a razor and as pleasurably discursive as Montaigne."
Hawk-IDDRC Seminar Series featuring Maja Bucan, PhD: "Sleep and activity patterns in autism”  promotional image

Hawk-IDDRC Seminar Series featuring Maja Bucan, PhD: "Sleep and activity patterns in autism”

Friday, October 9, 2026 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Carver Biomedical Research Building

Please join us for our first Hawk-IDDRC Seminar of the academic year, featuring: Maja Bućan, PhD.
Professor, Departments of Genetics and Psychiatry; Co-director, Autism Spectrum Program Of Excellence, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Lurie Autism Institute, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and PennMedicine
Presenting: "Sleep and activity patterns in autism” Friday, October 9, 2026, Noon – 1pm CST in the Kelch Conference Room (CBRB 1289)
Lunch will be available for those who...

Anatomy of an Idea - Tom Rutkowski  promotional image

Anatomy of an Idea - Tom Rutkowski

Friday, October 9, 2026 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Bowen Science Building