Person looking into a microscope.

Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Biosciences

Gain an interdisciplinary perspective on cancer biology, cell and developmental biology, immunology and infectious disease, molecular and evolutionary genetics, molecular medicine, molecular toxicology, and neurobiology

The Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Biosciences (MCIBS) Graduate Program is composed of more than 120 faculty members from six colleges and 15 basic science departments across the University Park campus. The program provides rigorous and in-depth training across a wide range of fields in the biological sciences. Students and faculty members work alongside each other to understand normal and disease processes at the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels.

Students entering the MCIBS program take a common set of courses during their first semester, while doing three research rotations in labs of their choice. At the end of the first semester, students choose a thesis lab and emphasis area. During the second semester, they take one more course together while also beginning to branch out into courses within their emphasis areas. Students also begin to shape their thesis projects during the second semester.

Courses help lay the foundation for subsequent research training. Students must produce a body of work in their thesis lab and demonstrate the ability to think critically and to design experiments. As students progress in their scientific training, they demonstrate these skills in two exams: the candidacy exam and comprehensive exam. The thesis and defense are the culmination of the Ph.D. training and showcase the work the student has accomplished.

  • Support is guaranteed, and additional internal and training grant awards are available
  • Over $500 million federal research dollars come to faculty at Penn State each year
  • MCIBS has over 120 faculty
  • Students have access to cutting edge tools and facilities to advance their research

Cancer Biology

Cellular and Developmental Biology

Immunology & Infectious Disease

Microbiome Sciences

Molecular & Evolutionary Genetics

Molecular Toxicology

Neurobiology

News

$3M NIH grant to support research on memory and exaggerated fear responses

Experiencing a traumatic event sometimes produces long-lasting biological changes that can lead to an exaggerated fear response to future stressful events, such as what occurs in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder. To better understand the regulatory mechanisms in the brain that produce this biological memory and exaggerated fear response, a team of researchers from Penn State and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been awarded a grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health.

How can the same genetic mutation lead to different clinical outcomes?

Individuals that share the same deletion of a portion of chromosome 16 are at risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders, but some experience severe intellectual disability or developmental delay, while others may only exhibit milder psychiatric features like depression or anxiety. How can this be? To answer this, a team led by Penn State scientists has developed methods to evaluate how genetic variants elsewhere in an individual’s genome work with the deletion to help determine the features that the individual will manifest.

Hydraulic brain: Body motion linked to fluid movement in the brain

The brain is more mechanically connected to the body than previously appreciated, scientists reported in Nature Neuroscience. Through a study using mice and simulations, the team found a potential biological mechanism underlying why exercise is thought to benefit brain health: abdominal contractions compress blood vessels connected to the spinal cord and the brain, enabling the organ to gently move within the skull. This swaying facilitates the surrounding cerebrospinal fluid to flow over the brain, potentially washing away neural waste that could cause problems for brain function.

News

$3M NIH grant to support research on memory and exaggerated fear responses

Experiencing a traumatic event sometimes produces long-lasting biological changes that can lead to an exaggerated fear response to future stressful events, such as what occurs in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder. To better understand the regulatory mechanisms in the brain that produce this biological memory and exaggerated fear response, a team of researchers from Penn State and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been awarded a grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health.

How can the same genetic mutation lead to different clinical outcomes?

Individuals that share the same deletion of a portion of chromosome 16 are at risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders, but some experience severe intellectual disability or developmental delay, while others may only exhibit milder psychiatric features like depression or anxiety. How can this be? To answer this, a team led by Penn State scientists has developed methods to evaluate how genetic variants elsewhere in an individual’s genome work with the deletion to help determine the features that the individual will manifest.

Hydraulic brain: Body motion linked to fluid movement in the brain

The brain is more mechanically connected to the body than previously appreciated, scientists reported in Nature Neuroscience. Through a study using mice and simulations, the team found a potential biological mechanism underlying why exercise is thought to benefit brain health: abdominal contractions compress blood vessels connected to the spinal cord and the brain, enabling the organ to gently move within the skull. This swaying facilitates the surrounding cerebrospinal fluid to flow over the brain, potentially washing away neural waste that could cause problems for brain function.

New clues for using common fungus to promote crop growth and health

Trichoderma species — a common fungus found in soils — have varying abilities to promote tomato plant growth and differentially affect the abundance of certain soil bacteria, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State. The work was the latest in a line of research evaluating the use of this common group of fungi as an alternative to pesticides for controlling soilborne pathogens, said Seogchan Kang, professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences and co-corresponding author of the study.