The Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy is based in the School of Medicine. Its academic mission includes teaching, research and service. The Department is responsible for teaching cellular and biostructurally oriented courses to medical, dental and other health-related students and graduate students, and is committed to the generation of new knowledge through its research programs. The Department is composed of 19 primary appointed faculty, 14 research faculty, 2 teaching faculty and 6 secondary-appointed and adjunct faculty. All primary faculty teach in the School of Medicine. Approximately 30 courses are directed by the Department's primary faculty members. Better than 90% of the primary faculty maintain continuous, federally-funded research grants. The graduate program in Cell Biology & Anatomy enrolls a number of new students each year. Students in Cell Biology & Anatomy are from all over the United States, as well as China, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Poland and the U.K. About 50% of our students are women. There is a strong and active minority community in the University, as well as a number of scholarship and fellowship programs available to minority students. The Department strongly encourages women and minority students to apply. Currently, the Department's training programs include 20 graduate students and 16 postdoctoral/research trainees and scholars. This program size allows considerable individual instruction.
The Department's hallmark is its academic diversity, being represented by a faculty with expertise in 12 subdisciplines, ranging from molecular biology to human gross anatomy. These subdisciplines all focus on six common themes which enhance faculty interaction at the cell and molecular level: fertilization, development, growth, cell movement and migration, energetics, and cell death. Integration of these themes is fostered through the use of the Department's high-tech imaging facilities which center especially on electron, digitized video, fluorescence and confocal imaging.
Many of the faculty of the Department have been recognized for both their scientific as well as educational achievements. Drs. Jacobson, Lemasters and Weiss were awardedestablished investigatorships from the American Heart Association. Dr. Lauder was awarded a 5-year Research Career Development Award from NIH; Dr. Henson, a 7-year NIH Claude Pepper Award; Dr. Rustioni, a 7-year NIH Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award; In the educational arena, Dr. Granger has received the Basic Science Teaching Award; Dr. Montgomery, the School of Dentistry Excellence in Teaching Award, (1st year Dental Class) the Distinguished Faculty Award, (Medical Education Development Program) and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Dental Hygiene Class; Dr. Henson, the CCB Award for Excellence in Teaching; and Dr. Burridge, the Phillip and Ruth Hettleman Prize for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement. Dr. Hackenbrock has been a Nobel Symposium lecturer.
The department also maintains a strong intellectual environment, bolstered by weekly seminar programs, faculty-hosted colloquia and faculty-organized international conferences held on campus every two to three years. The Department prides itself in offering these programs for the benefit of all interested faculty throughout the Research Triangle Area.