Research in the Department of Cell Biology is concerned with cells as well as how cells function in the context of the many various tissues of the body. Our goal is to discover molecular and physiological mechanisms that underlie the treatment and prevention of human disease.
The department faculty participate in the teaching of the Human Systems and the Correlated Medical Problem Solving (CMPS) courses for first year medical and dental students, and the Logic of Cell Biology course for graduate students. Several faculty are also contributors to medical / and dental student textbooks.
The core of the department consists of former members of the Department of Physiology, which was chaired by Richard D. Berlin for over 30 years. In recent years, he oversaw the change to Cell Biology, the addition of members from the former Departments of Pharmacology and Anatomy, and the formation of the Center for Vascular Biology (Linda Shapiro, Director) and the Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling (Leslie Loew, Director). The department organizes the annual Richard D. Berlin lecture.
