Genes and Development Ph.D. Program

Basic Science on Cancer & Disease

The Genes and Development Ph.D. Program (G&D) is for students seeking advanced training in biomedical research focused on the fundamental molecular mechanisms that control cell growth and differentiation and underlie disease.

Research in our program labs covers a broad spectrum of modern biomedical interests including Cancer Biology, Stem Cells and Development, Genetics and Genomics, and Biochemistry and Biomolecular Structure. Diverse experimental systems, including mice, frogs, worms, fruit flies, sea urchins, yeast and human cells, are used by G&D faculty and graduate students to conduct their research.

Located in Houston, Texas, in the heart of the world’s largest medical center, the G&D Program provides an exceptional setting for biomedical research and graduate education. Browse through our pages and you’ll discover an outstanding program that prepares students for successful biomedical research careers in academia, industry and government and other biomedical-related professions.

For more information, please read this message from our program director.

Newsworthy

New G&D Program Director and Co-Director

Elsa Flores, Ph.D., is the new Director of the Genes & Development Program. Dr. Flores is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at MD Anderson. Richard Behringer, Ph.D., replaces Dr. Flores as the new Program Co-Director. Dr. Behringer is a Professor in the Department of Genetics at MD Anderson and is a former Director of the G&D Program.

New G&D Program Faculty

The Genes & Development Program is pleased to announce five new faculty members. They are:

Gabor Balazsi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Systems Biology, MD Anderson
Russell Broaddus, M.D./Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pathology, MD Anderson
Jichao Chen, Ph.D./M.H.S., Assistant Professor, Department of Pulmonary Medicine-Research, MD Anderson
Andrew Gladden, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics, MD Anderson
Kenneth Tsai, M.D./Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology & Immunology, MD Anderson

Publications

Dent Lab: Cell, September 2, 2011. Latham JA, et al. Chromatin signaling of kinetochores: trans-regulation of Dam1 methylation by histone H2B ubiquitination.

Martin Lab: Science, April 22, 2011. Heallen T, et al. Hippo pathway inhibits Wnt signaling to restrain cardiomyocyte proliferation and heart size. PMID: 21512031

Barton Lab: Nature, December 16, 2010. Tsai W-W, et al. TRIM24 links a non-canonical histone signature to breast cancer. PMID: 21164480

Martin Lab: Wang J, et al. Dev Cell, December 14, 2010. Bmp signaling regulates myocardial differentiation from cardiac progenitors through a MicroRNA-mediated mechanism. PMID: 21145505

Flores Lab: Nature, October 21, 2010. Su X, et al. TAp63 suppresses metastasis through coordinate regulation of Dicer and miRNAs. PMID: 20962848