The Duke University program in Molecular Cancer Biology is designed to generate independent scholars who are interested in augmenting current knowledge on the basic mechanisms underlying cell growth, differentiation, and development, and discerning how these processes are perturbed in cancer cells. This knowledge will aid in the development of improved anticancer therapies.

The advantages of enrolling in the Molecular Cancer Biology program are:

• It is a degree-granting program that confers a Ph.D. in Molecular Cancer Biology.

• It is one of only a few such programs in the nation.

• The funding mechanisms of the program provide financial support to the students, allowing devotion of full attention to course work and laboratory research, thus accelerating progress toward completion of the Ph.D. degree.

• The students in the program may affiliate with any of the program faculty without concern of the departmental affiliation of the faculty mentor. This allows students complete freedom to choose a laboratory that it is most appropriate to their research interests.

• Graduate training is enhanced by the interactive nature of the faculty, the diverse processes under investigation, and the multiple approaches used by the participant researchers.