The recent explosion of data generated by the fields of genetics and molecular biology has created a demand for sophisticated computational methods to extract meaningful information. Bioinformatics has emerged as an important new discipline in the biosciences, promoting a close working relationship between genetics and the computational sciences. To meet the needs of students interested in this area of research, we have developed a formal subtrack within the Genetics Ph.D. program that would lead to a Ph.D. in Genetics with a specialization in Computational Genetics.
All Genetics students are required to participate in three laboratory rotations during their first year. It is strongly recommended that Computational Subtrack students acquire some experience in a wet lab. This may have occurred during an undergraduate or masters experience. If a Computational Subtrack student does not have wet lab experience when they affiliate with a laboratory, they should work with their mentor to gain the experience.
Course Requirements
Prerequisites
| Course | Semester Hours |
|---|---|
| Biochemistry (BIOC:3110 or BIOC 3120 and BIOC:3130 or equivalent) | 3-8 s.h. |
| Organic Chemistry (2 semesters) | 6-8 s.h. |
| Fundamental Genetics | 3-4 s.h. |
| Introductory Physics, one year, college level | 6-8 s.h. |
| Calculus or Statistics, one year of either | 6-8 s.h. |
Note: These prerequisites would be typical for a student entering with a Biology background. Students entering with a Computational background may need to make up missing courses; the trade-off is that these students will typically require fewer computer language courses, for example.
Genetics Core (12 sh)
| Course Number | Course | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| BMED:5207 | Principles of Molecular and Cellular Biology | 3 s.h. |
| GENE:6150 | Genetic Analysis of Biological Systems | 3 s.h. |
| STAT:3510 | Biostatistics or | 3 s.h. |
| BIOS:4120 | Introduction to Biostatistics | 3 s.h. |
| GENE:7191 | Human Molecular Genetics or | 3 sh |
| BIOL:5172 | Evolution or | 4 sh |
| BIOL:3713 | Molecular Genetics or | 3 sh |
| BIOL:4333 | Genes and Development | 3 sh |
| GENE:6200 | Current Topics in Genetics - take each Spring | 1sh |
| GENE:6210 | Seminars in Genetics - take every semester | 1sh |
Computing (6 sh)
| Course Number | Course | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| BIOS:5510 | Biostatistical Computing or | 2 sh |
| CS:3210 | Programming Languages and Tools or (may be taken multiple times) | 3 s.h. |
| CS:5110 | Introduction to Informatics | 3 sh |
Bioinformatics Electives (12 sh)
Choose 12 sh from computational based electives.
| Course number | course | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| BIOS:4510 | Data Science Foundations in R | 2 sh |
| BIOS:5120 | Regression and ANOVA for the Health Sciences | 3 sh |
| BIOS:7330 | Advanced Biostatistical Computing | 3 sh |
| BIOS: 7700 | Special Topics: Machine Learning for Biomedical Data | 3 sh |
| BMB:4310 | Computational Biochemistry | 3 sh |
| BME:5335 | Computational Bioinformatics | 3 sh |
| CS:5430 | Machine Learning | 3 sh |
| IGPI:5450 | Machine Learning | 3 sh |
| IGPI:6480 | Knowledge Discovery | 3 sh |
| MICR:6282 | Grad Applied Computational Biology | 2 sh |
| STAT:3200 | Applied Linear Regression | 3 sh |
| STAT:4580 | Data Visualization and Data Technologies | 3 sh |
Scholarly Integrity
| Course Number | Course | Semester hours |
|---|---|---|
| BMED:7270 | Scholarly Integrity/Responsible Conduct of Research I | 0 s.h. |
| BMED:7271 | Scholarly Integrity/Responsible Conduct of Research II | 0 s.h. |