Graduate and Postdoctoral
Studies 2008-09
Studies 2008-09
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Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies 2008-09 |
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8 Biochemistry
Department of Biochemistry
McIntyre Medical Sciences Building
3655 Promenade Sir-William-Osler
Montreal, QC H3G 1Y6
CanadaTelephone: Maureen Caron; Student Affairs Officer
(514) 398-7266
Fax: (514) 398-7384
E-mail: admissions.biochemistry@mcgill.ca
Website: www.mcgill.ca/biochemistry
Website: www.mcgill.ca/biochemistry/chemicalbiologyChair
David Y. Thomas
Associate Chair
Peter E. Braun
8.1 Staff
Emeritus Professors
Angus F. Graham; M.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc.(Edin.), F.R.S.C.
Rose M. Johnstone; B.Sc., Ph.D.(McG.), F.R.S.C.
Edward A. Meighen; B.Sc.(Alta.), Ph.D. (Calif.Berk.)
Samuel Solomon; M.Sc., Ph.D.(McG.), F.R.S.C.
Clifford P. Stanners; B.Sc.(McM.), M.A., Ph.D.(Tor.)
Theodore L. Sourkes; M.Sc.(McG.), Ph.D.(C'nell), F.R.S.C.
Professors
Nicole Beauchemin; B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.(Montr.) (joint appt. with Oncology and Medicine)
Albert Berghuis; B.Sc., M.Sc.(Rijks Univ. Groningen, The Netherlands), Ph.D.(Br. Col.) (Canada Research Chair)
Rhoda Blostein; B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.(McG.), F.R.S.C.
Philip E. Branton; B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.(Tor.) (Gilman Cheney Professor of Biochemistry), F.R.S.C.
Peter E. Braun; B.Sc., M.Sc.(Br. Col.), Ph.D.(Calif.Berk.)
Kalle Gehring; M.Sc. (Mich.), Ph.D.(Calif.Berk.) (Checheur National du FRSQ)
Vincent Gigučre; B.Sc., Ph.D.(Laval) (joint appt. with Oncology & Medicine)
Philippe Gros; B.Sc., M.Sc.(Montr.), Ph.D.(McG.) (James McGill Professor), F.R.S.C.
Annette A. Herscovics; B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.(McG.), F.R.S.C. (joint appt. with Oncology & Medicine)
Robert E. MacKenzie; B.Sc.(Agr.)(McG.), M.N.S., Ph.D.(C'nell)
William Muller; B.Sc., Ph.D.(McG.) (Canada Research Chair in Molecular Oncology)
Walter E. Mushynski; B.Sc., Ph.D.(McG.)
Alain Nepveu; B.Sc., M.Sc.(Montr.), Ph.D.(Sher.) (joint appt. with Oncology & Medicine) (James McGill Professor)
Morag Park; B.Sc., Ph.D.(Glas.) (Diane & Sal Guerrera Chair in Cancer Genetics) (William Dawson Scholar) (joint appt. with Oncology & Medicine)
Jerry Pelletier; B.Sc., Ph.D.(McG.) (James McGill Professor)
Gordon C. Shore; B.Sc.(Guelph), Ph.D.(McG.)
Joseph Shuster; B.Sc.(McG.), Ph.D.(Calif.), M.D.(Alta.)
John R. Silvius; B.Sc., Ph.D.(Alta.)
Nahum Sonenberg; M.Sc., Ph.D.(Weizmann Inst.) F.R.S.C., F.R.S. (James McGill Professor)
David Y. Thomas; B.Sc.(Brist.), M.Sc., Ph.D.(Univ. College, Lond.), F.R.S.C., (Canada Research Chair in Molecular Genetics)
Michel L. Tremblay; B.Sc., M.Sc.(Sher.), Ph.D.(McM.), F.R.S.C.
Maria Zannis-Hadjopoulos; B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.(McG.) (joint appt. with Oncology & Medicine)
Associate Professors
Imed Gallouzi; Maitrise, DEA, Ph.D.(Montpellier, France) (Canada Research Chair in Cellular Information Systems)
Arnim Pause; B.Sc., M.Sc.(U. Konstanz, Germ.), Ph.D.(McG.) (Canada Research Chair in Molecular Oncology)
Assistant Professor
Maxime Bouchard; B.Sc., Ph.D.(Laval) (Canada Research Chair in Kidney Disease)
Josée Dostie; B.Sc.(Sher.), Ph.D.(McG.)
Thomas Duchaine; B.Sc., Ph.D. (Montr.)
Bhushan Nagar; B.Sc., Ph.D. (Tor.)
Jose G.Teodoro; B.Sc.(W. Ont.),Ph.D.(McG.)
Jason Young; B.Sc.(Tor.), Ph.D.(McM.)
Associate Members
Karine Auclair (Chemistry), William C. Galley (Chemistry), Jacques Genest (Dept. of Medicine), Matthias Götte (Micro. & Immunol.), Michael Hallett (Computer Science), Qutayba Hamid (Meakins-Christie Labs), Robert S. Kiss (Dept. of Medicine), Vassilios Papadopoulos (Dept. of Medicine), Peter J. Roughley (Shriners' Hosp.), Reza Salavati (Inst. of Parasitology), Maya Saleh (Dept. of Medicine), Erwin Schurr (Exp. Medicine, RVH), Charles Scriver (Pediatrics, MCH), Peter Siegel (Dept. of Medicine), Bernard Turcotte (Exp. Medicine, RVH), Simon Wing (Dept. of Medicine), Xiang-Jiao Yang (Mol. Oncol., RVH)
Adjunct Professors
Prabhat Arya (NRC, Steacie Inst. for Mol. Sciences); Katherine Cianflone (Université Laval); Mirek Cygler (NRC/BRI); Jacques Drouin (Clin. Res. Inst.); Anny Fortin (Emerillon Therapeutics Inc.); Martin Latterich (U. of Mtl.); Karen Meerovitch (Mimetogen Pharmacueticals); Maureen O'Connor (NRC/BRI); Tarik Möröy (IRCM); Donald Nicholson (Merck Frosst); Enrico Purisima (NRC/BRI); Martine Raymond (IRIC), Alex Therien (Merck Frosst Canada).
8.2 Programs Offered
The Department of Biochemistry offers training at both the M.Sc. and Ph.D. levels. There are a wide variety of areas in which specialized training for the Ph.D. can be obtained. The Department also offers two Interdepartmental options together with other University departments. The first is the Chemical Biology Graduate Option, offered jointly with the Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Information on this option can be found on the Web at www.mcgill.ca/biochemistry/chemicalbiology. The Bioinformatics Option available as of January 2006, is offered jointly with several other University departments. For information, consult the Bioinformatics section under the Biochemistry department's Website at www.mcgill.ca/biochemistry.
Students interested in training in these options must first be accepted for graduate studies by one of the participating departments.
The Department concentrates on the following key areas of research: signal transduction; molecular genetics; gene regulation; oncogenes; structure, function and regulation of proteins; membrane structure, function and assembly; intracellular protein targeting; embryonic development; bioinformatics; chemical biology and cellular neurobiology. A summary of the research interest of faculty members is available on the Department's Website.
Funding
Prospective students are urged to make every effort to secure their own funding. All students accepted to the program must be financially supported either by their supervisor or through studentships or fellowships. All applicants accepted by a member of Biochemistry, having a first class standing, will be eligible for a recruitment fellowship. Applications are not required. Applications may be made for a variety of fellowships administered by the University or by various private, provincial or federal agencies. Deadlines for completion of most fellowship applications vary from October to February for studies beginning the following September. For more information on fellowships and awards, see the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office Website, www.mcgill.ca/gps.
8.3 Admission Requirements
Admission is based on the candidate's academic record, letters of recommendation, curriculum vitae and personal statement. A minimum grade point average of 3.2/4.0 (B+) is required. Files that do not meet the minimum requirement will not be considered.
Master's Program
Candidates for the M.Sc. degree must hold a B.Sc. degree or its equivalent in Biochemistry or in related disciplines (e.g., biology, chemistry, physics, physiology, microbiology).
Doctoral Program
Candidates who have completed their M.Sc. degree may be admitted directly to the Ph.D. program. Candidates who are admitted to the M.Sc. program and who are interested in the Ph.D. may transfer directly to the Ph.D. program after successfully completing the transfer seminar (BIOC 701) and all course requirements. The M.Sc. thesis requirement is then waived.
Applicants to graduate studies whose mother tongue is not English and who have not completed an undergraduate or graduate degree from a recognized foreign institution where English is the language of instruction or from a recognized Canadian institution (anglophone or francophone), must submit the following:
Admissions Requirements - Chemical Biology Option
As for the regular graduate programs of the participating departments, acceptance into the Chemical Biology Option consists of two steps:
1. Preliminary approval by the Department's Graduate Committee based on the student's transcript, references and other documents submitted with the application. The criteria for assessment at this level are the same as for the regular graduate programs of the participating departments.2. Acceptance by an individual research director. For students wishing to participate in the Chemical Biology Option, the director must propose a research project for the student that provides training in the methods and philosophy of chemical biology. Project proposals are assessed by the Chemical Biology Program Committee.8.4 Application Procedures
Applications will be considered upon receipt of:
1. application form;
2. curriculum vitae;
3. application fee ($80);
4. two official letters of recommendation from professors;
5. two official transcripts;
6. test results (TOEFL/GRE) if applicable.
All information is to be submitted to the Admissions Officer, Department of Biochemistry. All applicants are encouraged to approach staff members during or before the application process since no students are accepted without a supervisor.
McGill's online application form for graduate program candidates is available at www.mcgill.ca/applying/graduate.
Deadlines
Applications should be submitted as early as possible in order to meet the following deadlines:
8.5 Program Requirements
Coursework
All students are required to complete (in addition to BIOC 696) a minimum of 6 credits of 500 - or higher - level courses as part of their M.Sc. or Ph.D. program, including at least one of BIOC 603, BIOC 604, BIOC 605, or EXMD 615. Other courses are chosen in consultation with the research director. The Graduate Admissions Committee may stipulate additional course work depending on the background of the candidate. BIOC 450 (Protein Structure and Function) and BIOC 454 (Nucleic Acids) are additional requirements for those who have not previously completed equivalent courses in their prior training.
Research Advisory Committee:
Each student will have a supervisory committee that will monitor the progress of the studies.
Departmental Seminars:
In addition to the above requirements, all M.Sc. and Ph.D. students must take one year of the departmental seminar course (BIOC 696, Seminars in Biochemistry). Members of the staff and visiting scientists present their work to the Department at weekly and bi-weekly intervals respectively throughout the academic year. All graduate students are required to attend all the above seminars and other informal seminars, and are encouraged to attend meetings of scientific communities.
Master's Program (45 credits)
The following requirements must be satisfied:
Required Courses (39 credits)
BIOC 696
(3)
Seminars in Biochemistry
BIOC 697
(9)
Thesis Research 1
BIOC 698
(12)
Thesis Research 2
BIOC 699
(15)
Thesis Research 3
Complementary Courses (6 credits)
At least three credits must be chosen from the following;
BIOC 603
(3)
Genomics and Gene Expression
BIOC 604
(3)
Macromolecular Structure
BIOC 605
(3)
Structural Biology and Proteomics
EXMD 615
(3)
Membrane Carbohydrates
Plus, additional credits, to a minimum of 6 total complementary course-credits, of 500 - or higher level courses in biomedical and allied sciences.
Complementary courses are chosen in consultation with the research director. The Graduate Advisory Committee may stipulate additional coursework depending on the background of the candidate. BIOC 450 Protein Structure and Function and BIOC 454 Nucleic Acids are additional requirements for those who have not previously completed equivalent courses in their prior training.
The M.Sc. program usually requires a minimum of two years of study. Students in the M.Sc. program are required to complete all course requirements and submit a thesis.
Transfer from the M.Sc. to the Ph.D. Program
After 21 months students may transfer to the Ph.D. program only if all transfer requirements have been fulfilled. This includes completion of the Research Seminar 1 (BIOC 701) and the minimum of 9 course credits specified above, plus any additional course work stipulated by the Graduate Admissions Committee. The M.Sc. thesis requirement is then waived.
Ph.D. in Biochemistry
Required Course
(3 credits)
Program Requirements - Chemical Biology Option
The curriculum of the Chemical Biology Option is structured so that in completing the option, students also complete the course requirements for the regular graduate programs in their home departments. For this reason, program requirements are listed separately for each department, even though the 'core' content in Chemical Biology (9 lecture credits plus 2 or 4 seminar credits for each program) is the same for each. The course requirements for the Chemical Biology Option taken through the Biochemistry Department are available at www.mcgill.ca/biochemistry/chemicalbiology.
M.Sc. in Biochemistry - Chemical Biology Option/Concentration
(47 credits)
Required Course
(3 credits)
Ph.D. in Biochemistry - Chemical Biology Option/Concentration
Required Courses
(7 credits)
M.Sc. in Biochemistry - Bioinformatics Option/Concentration
(45 credits)
Required Courses
(6 credits)
Ph.D. in Biochemistry - Bioinformatics Option/Concentration
Required Courses
(6 credits)
8.6 Courses
Students preparing to register should consult the Web at www.mcgill.ca/minerva (click Class Schedule) for the most up-to-date list of courses available; courses may have been added, rescheduled or cancelled after this Calendar went to press. Class Schedule lists courses by term and includes days, times, locations, and names of instructors.
Term(s) offered (Fall, Winter, Summer) may appear after the credit weight to indicate when a course would normally be taught. Please check Class Schedule to confirm this information.
Note:
All undergraduate courses administered by the Faculty of Science (courses at the 100- to 500-level) have limited enrolment.
The course credit weight is given in parentheses after the title.
H Denotes courses taught only in alternate years.
Denotes limited enrolment
BIOC 603 Genomics and Gene Expression.
(3) (Fall) (Prerequisites: BIOC 454 and permission of instructor.) Examination of recent developments in analysis of eukaryotic cell genomes and control of gene expression. Molecular genetics; genomics and the bioinformatics of analysis of genomic and functional-genomic data; mechanisms and signal-transduction pathways for regulation of gene expression; applications to human disease.
H
BIOC 604 Macromolecular Structure.
(3) (Fall) (Prerequisite: BIOC 450 or equivalent) (Lectures in French and English) (Offered in the Fall term, in even alternate years.) X-Ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, computational methods and theoretical approaches to the determination and analysis of macromolecular structures. Theory and practical applications will be covered. Examples will include interpretation of structure as it applies to biological functions. In conjunction with the Université de Montréal.
BIOC 605 Structural Biology and Proteomics.
(3) (Winter) (Prerequisite: BIOC 450 or equivalent, or permission of instructor.) Examination of recent developments in structural biology and proteomics analysis. Diffraction, NMR and modeling approaches to macromolecular structure; biophysical, proteomics and related approaches to characterize the physical and functional interactions of biological macromolecules; applications to biological problems.
BIOC 610 Seminars in Chemical Biology 1.
(1) (Restrictions: Open only to students registered for the M.Sc. or Ph.D. Graduate Option in Chemical Biology.) First multidisciplinary seminar in chemical biology.
BIOC 611 Seminars in Chemical Biology 3.
(1) (Restrictions: Open only to students registered for the M.Sc. or Ph.D. Graduate Option in Chemical Biology.) Third multidisciplinary seminar in chemical biology.
BIOC 694 Thesis Research 4.
(3) (Restriction: Open to students enrolled in the M.Sc. in Biochemistry (Bioinformatics Option) program.) Laboratory research focusing on the thesis research project for the M.Sc. degree in Biochemistry; Bioinformatics Option.
BIOC 695 Thesis Research 1 (Chemical - Biology)
(6) (Restrictions: Open only to students registered for the M.Sc. Graduate Option in Chemical Biology.) Research toward completion of thesis.
BIOC 696 Seminars in Biochemistry.
(3) (Restriction: Open to M.Sc. and Ph.D. Biochemistry students only.) Seminars in biochemistry.
BIOC 696D1 (1.5), BIOC 696D2 (1.5) Seminars in Biochemistry.
(Students must register for both BIOC 696D1 and BIOC 696D2.) (No credit will be given for this course unless both BIOC 696D1 and BIOC 696D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms.) Seminars in biochemistry.
BIOC 697 Thesis Research 1.
(9)
BIOC 698 Thesis Research 2.
(12)
BIOC 699 Thesis Research 3.
(15)
BIOC 701 Research Seminar 1.
(0) (Biochemistry graduate students) Presentation on original current laboratory research carried out by student.
BIOC 702 Ph.D. Thesis Proposal.
(0) (Biochemistry graduate students) Dissertation presented to Committee.
BIOC 703 Research Seminar 2.
(0) (Restriction: Ph.D. students in Biochemistry) Presentation of the planned thesis including central findings and original contribution to knowledge in the field of research.
ADVANCED UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
BIOC 404 Biophysical Chemistry.
(3) (Winter) (Prerequisites: CHEM 204, CHEM 214 or equivalent) (Restriction: Not open to students who have taken or are taking CHEM 404.) Hydrodynamic and electrophoretic methods for separation and characterization of macromolecules. Optical and magnetic resonance spectroscopy of biopolymers, and applications to biological systems.
BIOC 450 Protein Structure and Function.
(3) (Fall) (Prerequisites: BIOC 311, BIOC 312 and/or sufficient organic chemistry.) (Restriction: Intended primarily for students at the U3 level)
Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of enzymes. Active site mapping and site-specific mutagenesis of enzymes. Enzyme kinetics and mechanisms of catalysis. Multienzyme complexes.
BIOC 454 Nucleic Acids.
(3) (Fall) (Prerequisites: BIOC 311, BIOC 312 or permission of instructor) Chemistry of RNA and DNA, transcription and splicing of RNA and their control; enzymology of DNA replication. Special topics on transgenics, genetic diseases and cancer.
BIOC 455 Neurochemistry.
(3) (Winter) (Prerequisites: BIOC 311, BIOC 312 or permission of instructor) Covers biochemical mechanisms underlying central nervous system function. Introduces basic neuroanatomy, CNS cell types and morphology, neuronal excitability, chemically mediated transmission, glial function. Biochemistry of specific neurotransmitters, endocrine effects on brain, brain energy metabolism and cerebral ischemia (stroke). With examples, where relevant, of biochemical processes disrupted in human CNS disease.
BIOC 458 Membranes and Cellular Signaling.
(3) (Winter) (Prerequisites: BIOC 212, ANAT 262; one of PHGY 201, PHGY 209 or BIOL 205; one of BIOC 312 or ANAT 365; and BIOC 311 or permission of instructors) (Restriction: This course is also listed as ANAT 458. Not open to students who have taken or are taking ANAT 458 or BIOC 456) An integrated treatment of the properties of biological membranes and of intracellular signaling, including the major role that membranes play in transducing and integrating cellular regulatory signals. Biological membrane organization and dynamics: membrane transport; membrane receptors and their associated effectors; mechanisms of regulation of cell growth, morphology, differentiation and death.
BIOC 503 Immunochemistry.
(3) (Winter) (Prerequisites: BIOC 311, BIOC 312) This course, presented in lecture format, emphasizes the molecular, genetic and structure function events that occur in the humoral immune response. Interleukins and other mediators of inflammation, a field in which rapid changes are occurring, are discussed. The clinical significance of fundamental biochemical findings is described.
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