Curriculum
Footnotes
1. Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology (MC&IP) 252: Mechanisms of Human Diseases I and MC&IP 262: Molecular Mechanisms of Human Diseases II (6 units each).
(Formally numbered 252A and 262A.) Lecture, four hours; discussion, two hours. Preparation: prior satisfactory molecular biology coursework. Fundamental concepts and methodologies in modern biology and medicine, with emphasis on systems-based research and mechanistic understanding to human diseases and therapies as they apply to neural, cardiovascular, and metabolic systems. Includes reading, review, and discussion of primary research literature addressing fundamental concepts and methodologies in related topic areas of human biology and diseases. Emphasis on development of scientific skills in critical analysis, knowledge acquisition and self-learning, and effective articulation in scientific debate and exchanged Letter grading.
Requisite for 262: course 252
2. Laboratory Rotations
Students carry out three laboratory rotations during their first year (one during each quarter, 10 weeks in duration). In most cases, students are able to "match" with a mentor after three rotations.
3. Environmental Health Sciences 240: Fundamentals of Toxicology. (4 units)
Lecture, four hours. Essential aspects of toxicology with emphasis on the human species; absorption, distribution, excretion, biotransformation as well as basic toxicological process and organ systems are discussed. Letter grading.
4. Microbiology, Immuniology and Molecular Genetics CM234: Ethics and Accountability in Biomedical Research (2)
Students may take this course any time in their first two years of study.
5. Mol Tox 211A-C. Molecular Toxicology Seminar. (1)
All Molecular Toxicology students are required to attend two toxicology seminar series, which in combination meet about twice per month during the academic year. The first “external” seminar series consists of presentations by outstanding toxicological researchers. Collectively, the Molecular Toxicology graduate students are responsible for selecting and inviting one "Graduate Students - Invited Lecturer" each year. These seminars are mainly funded by the NIEHS training grant. The second series consists of internal seminars presented by toxicology students and postdoctoral fellows. Trainees are required to both attend this seminar, and give a presentation each year in this series.
6. Mol Tox 296A-F Research Topics in Molecular Toxicology. (2)
These are research group meetings. Students give presentations to their research group members on their current research. Research group meetings occur weekly for about 1.5 hours.
7. Mol Tox 242: Advanced Molecular Toxicology (4 units).
This course is specifically designed to complement and extend EHS240. Each class is composed of a didactic lecture combined with a discussion session on published research articles relevant to the specific lecture topic. This gives the students both the comprehensive knowledge of the subject matter and practical understanding on how the research is done, which will facilitate the holistic learning process. The course covers major concepts and mechanisms of toxicity induced by known and emerging pollutants that lead to human diseases. The course includes two two-hour sessions per week from the instructors. It will cover various aspects of toxic mechanisms, including free radical generation, oxidative stress and adaptive pathways, mechanisms of cell death, inflammation and fibrosis, autophagy and diseases, metal toxicity/ion homeostasis, carcinogenesis, DNA damage and repair, cancer and gene environmental interactions, toxicity testing and radiation carcinogenesis, toxicology of major pollutants including air pollution, persistent organic pollutants and dioxins, toxicology of major organs including liver, kidney, immune, and the reproductive and nervous systems. there is one lecture on Predictive Toxicology and High Throughput Screening and another on Systems toxicogenomics (taught by Xia Yang).
8. MCIP251 or three QCB Workshops or other classes on big data science with the approval of the Molecular Toxicology faculty Advisory Committee.
The students can take MCIP251 Integrative Genomics for Complex Diseases OR Three workshops taught by the UCLA for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences (QCB) OR other Big Data classes or workshops.. MCIP251 is a 2 unit weekly seminar course consisting of mini lectures and supervised student presentations, aiming to offer graduate students the opportunity to acquire deep understanding of advanced integrative genomic approaches and how these approaches can be applied to help understand the molecular basis diverse complex diseases. This course provides a practical approach to big data science, building on the more conceptual approach in M252, M262 and EHS 242. Alternatively the students may take three QCB Collaboratory Workshops instead of MCIP251. These workshops are geared towards the broader Biosciences Community and are being offered by the QCB Collaboratory. The topics include, for example, NGS data analysis of RNAseq, ChiPseq, BS-seq, variant calling. Workshops may also include splice isoform analysis, motif analysis, Experimental Design, Network analysis of functional and physical networks, gene ontology, regulatory circuit modeling. As a third alternative, the students’ may take other workshops/classes on big data science that are relevant to the student’s research (with the approval of the Molecular Toxicology faculty Advisory Committee).
9. Epidemiology 100 (3)
Unless the student has passed a course in epidemiology while an undergraduate or Master's student, he/she will be required to take an epidemiology course while he/she is studying for the doctorate in Molecular Toxicology. This course can be Epidemiology 100 or another epidemiology course that is relevant to the student's area of research interest.
10. PH 201 Fundamentals of Public Health (4 units)
Students are required to take PH 201 (previously called PH 150), a course that covers all 12 Learning Experiences of Public Health. PH 201 will be required of all MS/PhD students who do not have an undergraduate degree from a CEPH-accredited public health school. Starting from Fall 2020, PH 201 will be taught asynchronously online within a single academic quarter, preferably in the student's first academic quarter at UCLA.
This course is designed to prepare students to work with interprofessional, diverse teams. It introduces students to interprofessional collaboration, team building, leadership, communication, cultural humility, and implicit bias, while supporting the professional development and growth of students. The overall goal of this course is to develop a strong skill set and practice important collaborative skills that are essential to success in the public health workforce. Students attend lectures, complete assignments, and participate in select portions of the Systems-Based Healthcare course currently offered by the schools of medicine, dentistry, and nursing.
Public Health course requirement: Students who have not previously completed a Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)-accredited degree (bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree) are required to complete Public Health 150: Contemporary Health Issues.
11. Teaching Requirement
All students will obtain instruction in teaching skills by serving as teaching assistants for one quarter.
12. Qualifying Examination—Written and Oral
This examination is usually taken towards the end of first quarter of the student's third year at UCLA. Both a written and oral qualifying examination is required. The written qualifying examination take the form of an NIH training grant application focusing on the student’s proposed thesis research. After successful completion of both the oral and the written qualifying examinations, the student advances to candidacy.
13. Dissertation
A dissertation based on original research is required. The dissertation should consist of research equivalent to at least two peer-reviewed publications in reputable journals in the field.
14. Final examination
A final defense of the Ph.D. thesis is required
1. Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology (MC&IP) 252: Mechanisms of Human Diseases I and MC&IP 262: Molecular Mechanisms of Human Diseases II (6 units each).
(Formally numbered 252A and 262A.) Lecture, four hours; discussion, two hours. Preparation: prior satisfactory molecular biology coursework. Fundamental concepts and methodologies in modern biology and medicine, with emphasis on systems-based research and mechanistic understanding to human diseases and therapies as they apply to neural, cardiovascular, and metabolic systems. Includes reading, review, and discussion of primary research literature addressing fundamental concepts and methodologies in related topic areas of human biology and diseases. Emphasis on development of scientific skills in critical analysis, knowledge acquisition and self-learning, and effective articulation in scientific debate and exchanged Letter grading.
Requisite for 262: course 252
2. Laboratory Rotations
Students carry out three laboratory rotations during their first year (one during each quarter, 10 weeks in duration). In most cases, students are able to "match" with a mentor after three rotations.
3. Environmental Health Sciences 240: Fundamentals of Toxicology. (4 units)
Lecture, four hours. Essential aspects of toxicology with emphasis on the human species; absorption, distribution, excretion, biotransformation as well as basic toxicological process and organ systems are discussed. Letter grading.
4. Microbiology, Immuniology and Molecular Genetics CM234: Ethics and Accountability in Biomedical Research (2)
Students may take this course any time in their first two years of study.
5. Mol Tox 211A-C. Molecular Toxicology Seminar. (1)
All Molecular Toxicology students are required to attend two toxicology seminar series, which in combination meet about twice per month during the academic year. The first “external” seminar series consists of presentations by outstanding toxicological researchers. Collectively, the Molecular Toxicology graduate students are responsible for selecting and inviting one "Graduate Students - Invited Lecturer" each year. These seminars are mainly funded by the NIEHS training grant. The second series consists of internal seminars presented by toxicology students and postdoctoral fellows. Trainees are required to both attend this seminar, and give a presentation each year in this series.
6. Mol Tox 296A-F Research Topics in Molecular Toxicology. (2)
These are research group meetings. Students give presentations to their research group members on their current research. Research group meetings occur weekly for about 1.5 hours.
7. Mol Tox 242: Advanced Molecular Toxicology (4 units).
This course is specifically designed to complement and extend EHS240. Each class is composed of a didactic lecture combined with a discussion session on published research articles relevant to the specific lecture topic. This gives the students both the comprehensive knowledge of the subject matter and practical understanding on how the research is done, which will facilitate the holistic learning process. The course covers major concepts and mechanisms of toxicity induced by known and emerging pollutants that lead to human diseases. The course includes two two-hour sessions per week from the instructors. It will cover various aspects of toxic mechanisms, including free radical generation, oxidative stress and adaptive pathways, mechanisms of cell death, inflammation and fibrosis, autophagy and diseases, metal toxicity/ion homeostasis, carcinogenesis, DNA damage and repair, cancer and gene environmental interactions, toxicity testing and radiation carcinogenesis, toxicology of major pollutants including air pollution, persistent organic pollutants and dioxins, toxicology of major organs including liver, kidney, immune, and the reproductive and nervous systems. there is one lecture on Predictive Toxicology and High Throughput Screening and another on Systems toxicogenomics (taught by Xia Yang).
8. MCIP251 or three QCB Workshops or other classes on big data science with the approval of the Molecular Toxicology faculty Advisory Committee.
The students can take MCIP251 Integrative Genomics for Complex Diseases OR Three workshops taught by the UCLA for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences (QCB) OR other Big Data classes or workshops.. MCIP251 is a 2 unit weekly seminar course consisting of mini lectures and supervised student presentations, aiming to offer graduate students the opportunity to acquire deep understanding of advanced integrative genomic approaches and how these approaches can be applied to help understand the molecular basis diverse complex diseases. This course provides a practical approach to big data science, building on the more conceptual approach in M252, M262 and EHS 242. Alternatively the students may take three QCB Collaboratory Workshops instead of MCIP251. These workshops are geared towards the broader Biosciences Community and are being offered by the QCB Collaboratory. The topics include, for example, NGS data analysis of RNAseq, ChiPseq, BS-seq, variant calling. Workshops may also include splice isoform analysis, motif analysis, Experimental Design, Network analysis of functional and physical networks, gene ontology, regulatory circuit modeling. As a third alternative, the students’ may take other workshops/classes on big data science that are relevant to the student’s research (with the approval of the Molecular Toxicology faculty Advisory Committee).
9. Epidemiology 100 (3)
Unless the student has passed a course in epidemiology while an undergraduate or Master's student, he/she will be required to take an epidemiology course while he/she is studying for the doctorate in Molecular Toxicology. This course can be Epidemiology 100 or another epidemiology course that is relevant to the student's area of research interest.
10. PH 201 Fundamentals of Public Health (4 units)
Students are required to take PH 201 (previously called PH 150), a course that covers all 12 Learning Experiences of Public Health. PH 201 will be required of all MS/PhD students who do not have an undergraduate degree from a CEPH-accredited public health school. Starting from Fall 2020, PH 201 will be taught asynchronously online within a single academic quarter, preferably in the student's first academic quarter at UCLA.
This course is designed to prepare students to work with interprofessional, diverse teams. It introduces students to interprofessional collaboration, team building, leadership, communication, cultural humility, and implicit bias, while supporting the professional development and growth of students. The overall goal of this course is to develop a strong skill set and practice important collaborative skills that are essential to success in the public health workforce. Students attend lectures, complete assignments, and participate in select portions of the Systems-Based Healthcare course currently offered by the schools of medicine, dentistry, and nursing.
Public Health course requirement: Students who have not previously completed a Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)-accredited degree (bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree) are required to complete Public Health 150: Contemporary Health Issues.
11. Teaching Requirement
All students will obtain instruction in teaching skills by serving as teaching assistants for one quarter.
12. Qualifying Examination—Written and Oral
This examination is usually taken towards the end of first quarter of the student's third year at UCLA. Both a written and oral qualifying examination is required. The written qualifying examination take the form of an NIH training grant application focusing on the student’s proposed thesis research. After successful completion of both the oral and the written qualifying examinations, the student advances to candidacy.
13. Dissertation
A dissertation based on original research is required. The dissertation should consist of research equivalent to at least two peer-reviewed publications in reputable journals in the field.
14. Final examination
A final defense of the Ph.D. thesis is required
