Suggested Elective Courses

A minor in Cancer Biology requires 9 units of CBIO coursework and 2 Cancer Biology GIDP faculty as members of your supervisory committee for the comprehensive exam.  A total of 5 are required for the committee. If you are not a CBIO student but wish to minor in CBIO, please schedule a time to meet with the program director in order to best tailor which CBIO classes you should take -- it will probably encompass several of the core classes. For current CBIO students, the following list are potential electives that will count toward a CBIO minor. 

CBIO 515 - Mechanisms of Human Disease (4 units, Spring) - Briehl

Biochemical, structural, and functional changes in cells, tissues, and organs, which cause and are caused by diseases. For graduate students training for a career in biomedical research. This course has a lab component. 

CBIO 520A- Cell Communication & Signal Transduction (3 units, Spring) - Smith

Principles of molecular signaling regulating membrane, cytoplasmic, and nuclear events in eukaryotic cells. Topics include extracellular signals, intracellular transduction pathways, modulation of cell signaling, and biological processes controlled by specific signaling pathways. Focuses more on protein kinases and extracellular signals. 

CBIO 520B - Cell Communication & Signal Transduction (3 units, Fall) - Zhang

Principles of molecular signaling regulating membrane, cytoplasmic, and nuclear events in eukaryotic cells. Topics include extracellular signals, intracellular transduction pathways, modulation of cell signaling, and biological processes controlled by specific signaling pathways. Focuses on more transcriptional regulation and intracellular signals.

CBIO 522 - Contrast Agents, Molecular Imaging and Kinetics (3 units, Spring) - Matsunaga

Current topics in drug discovery and molecular imaging involve the integration of a series of research modalities.  The pharmaceutical Industry uses these modalities in their developmental and regulatory efforts to attain new indications.  As well, the medical device community is continually developing new techniques to enhance medical imaging for the earliest detection of disease. 

CBIO 550 - Drug Disposition and Metabolism (2 units, Spring) - Qing-Yu Zhang

Principles of absorption, distribution and excretion of drugs, with emphasis on mechanisms of drug metabolism.

CBIO 555 - Cancer Therapeutics (3 units, Fall) - Nam Lee and Jeffrey Pu

This is an interactive course that highlights recent advances in cancer treatment, diagnostics and drug discovery. As such, the class is primarily literature-based, often discussing one or two key high-impact research papers (per lecture/section) to understand why their findings represent some of the most promising, innovative and impactful studies in their fields. The course entails active student participation and therefore students are expected to read their preassigned materials (designated paper and/or review article) before class to answer questions and/or lead discussions.

CBIO 595a - Oncogenes & Signal Transduction (1 unit, Fall) - Heimark

The exchange of scholarly information and/or secondary research, usually in a small group setting. Instruction often includes lectures by several different persons. Research projects may or may not be required of course registrants

CMM 695d - Human Genetic Disease Colloquium (3 units, Spring) 

The primary goal of this course is to teach strategies for thinking about any disease, by understanding different levels of genetic causation and the evolution of disease diagnosis and classification.

NSC 610 - Nutrition and Disease (3 units, Spring) - Limesand

This course takes a "bench to bedside" approach in discussing the impact of nutrition on cancer. Students will get a fundamental understanding of how particular nutrients impact tumor promotion or prevention, the mechanisms of action, and translatability of these findings to the clinic.

PCOL 601A - Epigenetics in Development & Disease (2 units, Fall) - Futscher

Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene function that occur in the absence of changes in DNA sequence. Topics include overview and concepts of epigenetics, histones and their modifications, DNA methylation, chromatin structure, RNAi, model organisms, nuclear transplantation and genome reprogramming, epigenetic and epigenomic technologies, and therapeutic agents that target epigenetic mechanisms.

PHSC 670 - Principles in Drug Discovery, Design, Development (4 units, Spring) - Daekyu Sun

An introduction into principles of drug discovery, design, and development covering the process and tools such as computational chemistry, combinatorical chemistry, and subjects such as molecular target identification, drug receptor interactions, DNA and proteins as molecular targets, drug metabolism, and drug delivery systems.