Graduate Programs
Promising Ph.D., M.D., and Master’s scholars can build their knowledge base needed to pursue a career in cancer studies in a supportive and collaborative community.
Academic Research Careers for Medical Doctors (ARC-MD)
The ARC-MD program provides medical students with foundational skills and professional development that promote a successful career as a physician scientist. The five-year program provides students with research and career mentorship, a unique curriculum, and community engagement within a supportive, longitudinal learning community.
Advanced Training in Environmental Health Sciences
Through interdisciplinary research and coursework, this program trains environmental health scientists to address pressing issues in the field. Students receive faculty mentorship from researchers in a variety of departments, including toxicology, molecular biology, cancer, genotoxicity, metabolic disorders, epigenetics, and more. This program utilizes the resources and research of multiple UC Davis centers to promote and synergize approaches to disease prevention and public health. Trainees are well prepared for successful careers in academia, government, or the private sector.
Bridges to Doctorate
In partnership with California State University, Fresno (Fresno State), the Bridges program assists select underrepresented graduate students interested in a research career through individually designed academics and research trainings. Students first complete a master’s program in biomedical sciences at Fresno State and then a Ph.D. program at UC Davis Additionally, scholars participate in a summer research experience laying the essential groundwork required to face the rigors of graduate school education in a highly competitive environment.
Chemical Biology
Supporting students engaged in pre-doctoral training at the chemistry-biology interface, the Chemical Biology Program draws faculty from six different departments and five different colleges. The program prepares scholars for careers in the biomedical workforce with the communication and management skills necessary to direct research programs that integrate approaches across the two disciplines.
Comparative Lung Biology and Medicine
Pre-doctoral and post-doctoral scholars will grow into independent investigators through the Comparative Lung Biology and Medicine Program’s interactive research environments, innovative and competitive research themes and projects, and training opportunities.
Comparative Medical Science
A graduate research training program supported by the NIH for veterinarians seeking to complete a Ph.D. for careers in biomedical research. The program is to facilitate broad training in various aspects of comparative medicine and supports D.V.M.’s conducting research in various Schools across UC Davis, including the School of Medicine. The program is administered by the Center for Immunology & Infectious Diseases (CIID) on the UC Davis campus and co-sponsored by the Office of Graduate Studies, the CIID and the School of Veterinary Medicine.
Comparative Oncology
Our first-in-the-nation Comparative Oncology program trains the next generation of veterinarian- and physician-scientists. Drawing on UC Davis’s strengths as a research institution, pre- and post-doctoral scholars have access to faculty mentors from the School of Veterinary Medicine and School of Medicine as well as the Colleges of Agricultural Science, Environmental Science, and Engineering. Dual D.V.M.-Ph.D. students work to integrate the study of companion animals, which have naturally-occurring cancers, with human cancer biology and therapy (comparative oncology to advance the health of people and animals.
Fellowship Award Writing Workshop
Earning training fellowships early on your scientific career is an increasingly important to successfully transition to research independence and faculty positions.
Why Get an F?
- Receive stipend and tuition
- Establish your credibility
- Examine what is most important about your research (and why anyone would give you money for it)
- Improve critical grant writing skills early on in your career
- Practice communicating about your research succinctly
- Update yourself on the literature
- Foster new collaborations
Workshop participants will gain a solid understanding of the creative, scientific, organizational and administrative aspects of preparing a competitive fellowship application. To help develop this understanding, along with discussing key elements of the proposal, participants will develop, revise, and prepare an F series NIH grant application over the course of this in-person workshop with constructive input from peers and individual mentors. At the end of the program, participants will have a completed, well-reviewed application ready for submission to the NIH.
Molecular and Cellular Biology
The primary goal of the successful predoctoral training program in Molecular and Cellular Biology at UC Davis is to provide scholars with the breadth of knowledge and research training, and career skills, that will prepare them for their own successful careers in the national biomedical workforce. Training is provided by over 80 trainers in various academic departments, with wide-ranging interests including genetics, biochemistry, structural biology, cell, molecular and developmental biology, physiology and neuroscience.
Pharmacology Training Program
This program broadens the research perspectives and skills of predoctoral scholars interested in pharmacological research. It leverages the multidisciplinary biomedical research environment at UC Davis with its highly successful programs in drug development. One program goal is to provide trainees with a detailed “inside look” at and understanding of drug development from target identification into clinic. The second goal is to provide students from Ph.D. programs outside the Pharmacology Ph.D. program training in the core concepts of Pharmacology including Pharmacodynamics and Pharmacokinetics.
Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program
This one-year program prepares scholars from underrepresented groups and disadvantaged backgrounds, or scholars who have a disability that limits major life activities, to succeed in Ph.D. programs in the biomedical sciences.
Predoctoral Training in Pharmacological Sciences
Future biomedical researchers broaden their research perspectives and skills in this program. Leveraging the multidisciplinary biomedical research environment at UC Davis with its highly successful program in drug development, trainees explore the concepts of drug discovery and development from target identification into the clinic. Trainees receive focused and student-tailored training in pharmacology principles and partner with other pharmacology students on interdisciplinary experiences. The program exposes students to novel drugs and possible therapeutics for cardiovascular, neurological, immunological diseases and cancer.
Students Training in Advanced Research
The STAR Program identifies, nurtures, and supports veterinary students through work with faculty mentors in all aspects of veterinary and biomedical research. This program teaches trainees five fundamental research objectives: 1) how to gain knowledge and understanding of one’s field of science; 2) formulating a scientifically sound and testable hypothesis; 3) identifying specific objectives, conduct controlled methodical experiments, and develop technical expertise; 4) analyzing results, deriving conclusions, proposing additional experiments, and anticipating new directions; and 5) conveying research findings succinctly and convincingly to others. The program supports students with a variety of interests ranging from biomedical engineering to vector borne diseases, to epidemiology.
Training in Molecular and Cellular Biology
In this program, trainees gain a breadth of knowledge, research training, and career skills, that prepares them for a successful career in the national biomedical workforce. The most qualified Ph.D. students in molecular and cellular biology work with top faculty 16 academic departments with a variety of research interests including genetics, biochemistry, structural biology, physiology, and neuroscience. The program integrates Graduate Group coursework, Ph.D. thesis research in individual laboratories, and professional development experiences with a set of coherent training activities. By combining discipline-specific training in faculty members’ laboratories with interdisciplinary scientific training, trainees are well-prepared to enter the biomedical workforce with a broad perspective and skill set.
Veterinary Scientist Training Program
This program prepares students with dual D.V.M.-Ph.D. degrees to become compassionate and exceptional veterinarian-scientists involved in basic and translational research for the advancement of health in people, animals, and the environment. Participants in the program receive clinical and biomedical research training at UC Davis’s top ranked School of Veterinary Medicine and the Colleges of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, and Human Medicine.
Spotlight On Early Career Investigators
The Spotlight on Early Career Investigators is an annual symposium highlighting the work of undergraduate students, pre- and post-doctoral scholars, research staff and residents/fellows in cancer research. Through this event, early career investigators meet experienced investigators, learn about potential research opportunities early in their career, and gain valuable career insights through presentations and networking.