WELCOME FROM THE DEAN

Welcome to the dynamic world of The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston, affectionately known as GSBS! I am pleased you have sought us out, and on behalf of our nearly 500 Faculty members and 450 students, I want to thank you for your interest.

Mandated by the Texas State Legislature, the mission of The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston GSBS is to educate research scientists and scientist-educators, to generate new knowledge in the biomedical sciences, and to increase public understanding of science. We achieve this mission primarily by offering Masters and Ph.D. degree programs in all major areas of contemporary biomedical sciences.

What follows is an overview of our organization, special friends, honors, research status, affiliations and outreach—among other things. Get ready to feast your eyes on this energetic resource of expertise, education and opportunity.

George M. Stancel, Ph.D.
Dean
John P. McGovern Professor of Biomedical Sciences

About The UT-Graduate School Of Biomedical Sciences At Houston

In 1963 the fifty-eighth legislature authorized the Regents of The University of Texas to establish a Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at Houston. The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is in the top quarter of health sciences graduate schools in the United States. Over 1,300 scientists have received their training at the GSBS since its beginning.

Dedicated to the highest level of education, its faculty, classrooms, and laboratories are drawn from three major institutions: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center plus M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Science Park, and the Texas A&M University Institute of Biosciences and Technology --together, a unique inter-disciplinary and intra-institutional collaboration.

The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston offers Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in several areas of study, it administers a joint M.D./Ph.D. program in collaboration with The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and it is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Programs

Known for its educational philosophy of flexibility and personal attention, the GSBS gives students the opportunity to earn their degree by joining an established program, or by designing an individualized degree path to suit their professional goals. The Faculty recently adopted the GSBS Core Tenets of Graduate Training.

Nationally ranked programs include biochemistry, biomathematics and biostatistics, biophysics, cancer biology, cell biology, genes and development, genetic counseling, human and molecular genetics, immunology, integrative biology, medical physics, microbiology and molecular genetics, molecular biology, molecular carcinogenesis, molecular pathology, neuroscience, oral biomaterials, pharmacology, physiology, radiation biology, regulatory biology, reproductive biology, toxicology, virology and gene therapy, and curriculum tracks in biostatistics and vascular biology.

Community Partners

GSBS community partnerships are far-reaching throughout the city, county and state. The Graduate School has a collaborative agreement with the University of Houston-Downtown to engage GSBS students as teaching assistants for courses in the natural sciences for UH undergraduates.

Additional academic affiliations include: Baylor College of Medicine; Ft. Bend Independent School District; Houston Independent School District; Prairie View A&M; The University of Texas Pan American; Spring Branch Independent School District; Rice University; Texas Southern University; University of Houston, Main Campus.

Community affiliations with the Graduate School: the American Business Women’s Association, WINGS Chapter; the American Legion Auxiliary; the American Medical Writers Association Southwest Chapter; Cancer Answers, Inc.; Hispanic Students Association; John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science; Science and Engineering Fair of Houston, Inc.; Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society

The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston receives support from the following foundations: Harry S. & Isabel C. Cameron Foundation; the Linda and Ronny Finger Foundation; the Rosalie B. Hite Foundation; the John P. McGovern Foundation; the Schissler Foundation; the Shell Oil Company Foundation and the Sylvan Rodriguez Foundation.

Faculty

Current faculty number nearly 500 with full time members plus additional adjunct faculty. This large and distinguished group includes the 1998 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, recipient of the 2000 Prince Mahidol Award, two Lasker Award winners, and numerous recipients of other honors, awards and professional leadership recognition.

Faculty of our participating institutions consistently receive more than $140 million in research support annually from the National Institutes of Health which ranks UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston in the top 1-2% of NIH funding in the world.

Over 450 students are working toward degrees with 80 students receiving their degrees annually. The student body includes approximately 1/3 of its population from Texas, 1/3 from the rest of the United States, and 1/3 that is international students. There are an equal number of men and women. The Graduate Student Association (GSA) provides a student forum for discussion of common needs, works cooperatively with the faculty and administration to build a recognized and well-respected institution, and develops student fellowship and social activities.