The Graduate Program at a Glance
The Wake Forest University School of Medicine Department of Biochemistry offers the Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology through the Graduate School of Wake Forest University, and is recruiting highly motivated and enthusiastic students interested in training for a successful career in biomedical sciences. All students participate in an integrated curriculum designed to impart an in-depth understanding of the major disciplines in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Students in the Department benefit from a low student to faculty ratio and a collegial atmosphere that promotes faculty-student interactions and a strong training environment. 
Fields of Research
The Department features research and training in four key technologies that form the core of modern Biochemistry:
• STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY
• MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
• GENETICS / GENOMICS
• PROTEOMICS / METABOLOMICS
The diverse research interests of the faculty are focused in four inter-related areas that address fundamentally important biological questions:
• Signal transduction in cancer, inflammation, and cardiac disease
• DNA repair and defense against cellular damage
• Redox biology
• Metabolic diseases
Many of the faculty in the Department also have associations with the Wake Forest Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Center for Structural Biology, and Center for Human Genomics.
Graduate Recruiting
The program accepts students with a variety of undergraduate degrees including majors in the biological sciences, chemistry and biochemistry. Applicants have usually successfully completed courses in cell biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, and mathematics through calculus. Applications are evaluated by the Graduate Program Committee based on undergraduate research experience, grade point average, the verbal and quantitative scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) in the case of applicants for whom English is not the native language, letters of reference, and a statement of personal interests. Selected applicants will be invited for an interview during the process of consideration. Major criteria for evaluation of the interview are the degree of motivation for a career in science and the quality and extent of the applicant’s undergraduate scientific training.
Degree Requirements
Students in the PhD program take approximately 19 hours of formal coursework including Biochemistry I and II, Molecular Biology, Introduction to Biochemical Research, and Special Topics in Biochemical Literature. Students also participate in at least two individual laboratory research rotations in their first year in order to choose a faculty research advisor. At the end of the second year, after the student has passed the required biochemistry courses, the Ph.D. preliminary examination is completed. In subsequent years students primarily continue with laboratory research under the direction of their research advisor. Completion of the PhD degree requires the student to generate a body of original research and an oral defense of a written research dissertation.
Research Facilities
The Department of Biochemistry has state-of-the-art facilities for use by students and postdoctoral fellows. Students are encouraged to develop a hands-on understanding of the instrumentation used in their research. Laboratories for macromolecular X-ray crystallography and high-resolution NMR spectrometry as well as, rapid reaction kinetics, time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy, phosphorimaging, dynamic light scattering, and analytical ultracentrifugation have been established to meet the needs of investigators. The professionally staffed Biomolecular Resource Core Facilities are also available for protein and DNA sequence analysis, peptide and oligonucleotide synthesis, GC- and tandem mass spectrometry.
Financial Aid
All students in the Department of Biochemistry are fully supported financially by tuition scholarships and graduate research assistantships. Additional scholar achievement awards are offered to select outstanding applicants. Students who have advanced to candidacy are also eligible to compete for the departments prestigious Artom and Cowgill Fellowships which provide additional stipend and support for travel to scientific conferences. All incoming students are also given an IBM ThinkPad® computer.
The University
Wake Forest University has earned a reputation of distinction among institutions of higher learning and supports a community of widely-acclaimed scholars in many disciplines. The University is ranked among the 50 most competitive American colleges and universities. The Reynolda Campus and the Bowman Gray Campus, home of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, are located within a short driving distance of one another. The medical center ranks among the top 40 institutions nationally in federal research funding. Wake Forest is located in Winston-Salem, a city of about 170,000 in the northern Piedmont region of North Carolina noted for its exceptional programs in the fine arts and for Old Salem, a restored village on the site of the original 18th century Moravian settlement.
Correspondence and Information
Please send email to biochemrecruit@wfubmc.edu if you are interested in obtaining more information about the Biochemistry Graduate program, or write to the address below.
Department of Biochemistry
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Medical Center Boulevard
Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1016
Telephone: (336) 716-0768
Fax: (336) 777-3242
Electronic Mail:biochemrecruit@wfubmc.edu
Start the on-line application process.