Translational Education Initiatives

New graduate training program
bridges basic sciences and clinical medicine

Cancer kills 30 percent of our population, and is a devastating threat to the health of North Americans of all ages and the world as a whole.  Over the last 50 years, there have been tremendous advances in our understanding of the molecular and cellular processes of cancer, and great progress in the treatment of a number of neoplastic disorders; however there has been no change in the age-adjusted mortality due to cancer. 

As knowledge in molecular genetics and cell biology accelerates and new approaches, such as genomics and proteomics, have brought an enormous amount of knowledge about disease, the biomedical community is seeking innovative ways to translate this explosion of new information into products and services used by industry and consumers for the treatment and early detection of disease.

Funded by a four-year $850,000 award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) , this training grant is one of 13 programs across the U.S. Rice University's and The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center's BioE Med Into Grad program concentrates on translational bioengineering for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.

The new graduate training program integrates:

• Courses in cancer biology, clinical medicine, bioengineering and
  translational research;
• Unique internships in clinical cancer care and translational research; and
• Jointly mentored inter-disciplinary Ph.D. projects.

The program builds on the strong base of joint translational research between bioengineers, basic scientists and clinicians in four areas:

• Computational bioengineering for the design of cancer inhibiting drugs and vaccines;
• Molecular imaging for early cancer detection;
• Nanobiotechnology to design new cancer imaging and therapeutic agents; and
• Cell and tissue engineering to develop effective reconstructive procedures following tumor resection.

Beginning this summer, entering Ph.D. students will complete an intensive Introductory Clinical Cancer Internship, in which they will attend clinical rotations at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in:

• Diagnostic Cancer Imaging
• Surgery
• Radiotherapy
• Internal Medicine
• Lab Medicine
• Pathology
• Bone Marrow Transplantation, and
• Cancer Prevention.

In their second summer, students will carry out an Advanced Clinical Cancer Internship in an area related to their thesis research. Students will also complete a track of  five formal courses offered jointly by Rice University and The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, including:

• Oncology for Bioengineers: Molecules to Organs;
• Cancer Biology;
• New Technologies for Cancer Diagnostics: Nano to Micro to Macro;
• Mechanisms in Cancer Therapeutics; and
• Translational Research. 

In designing and implementing this novel program, Rice University and The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center bring together an outstanding group of faculty dedicated to translational research and education.  The program is directed by Principal Investigator Rebecca Richards-Kortum, who is also an HHMI profesor and chair of the Bioengineering Department at Rice. 

- Back -