Welcome to the Center for Molecular Carcinogenesis and Toxicology (CMCT). Here you will find a description of our inter-disciplinary research and academic training programs in molecular carcinogenesis and toxicology as well as specific information on CMCT faculty research programs. This information should assist you in determining whether our program is compatible with your career goals.
The CMCT faculty welcome direct inquiries from prospective students at all levels; undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral fellows. The resources of the CMCT are utilized to enhance all aspects of the training experience, including student fellowships, travel to scientific meetings and a world class seminar program.
Students conduct research within a strong interdisciplinary environment, and their research is consistently recognized at national meetings with prestigious and competitive awards. Graduates from our program have gone on to work with members of the U.S. National Academy of Science, complete Post-Doctoral Fellowships at top US and international laboratories, including the world-renowned Karolinska Institute in Stockholm or at the MRC’s Center for Human Toxicology in the UK. Ultimately, our graduates develop successful careers in academia, industry, government, and consulting.
We view success in terms of the career satisfaction achieved by our graduates. Be assured that the faculty of the CMCT will work hard to assist you in your career aspirations.
John DiGiovanni, Ph.D.
Director
Mission
The mission of the CMCT is to provide leadership for the expansion of programs of excellence in environmental health sciences education and research and to prepare students for careers that address the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which environmental agents instigate toxicity and disease, including cancer. In addition, there is an emphasis on research to identify strategies for prevention and treatment of environmentally-induced disease.
The CMCT fosters interdisciplinary undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral training in molecular carcinogenesis and toxicology by providing a formal means by which students can interface with a diverse cadre of faculty performing toxicology research. To accomplish this goal, CMCT faculty come from a variety of colleges and departments of The University of Texas at Austin including: the Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology and the Division of Chemical Biology & Medicinal Chemistry of the College of Pharmacy; the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and the UT Marine Science Institute in the College of Natural Sciences; the Departments of Nutritional Science and Pediatrics of the Dell Medical School; and the Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis of the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Student trainees who work under the mentorship of the CMCT faculty participants are actively engaged in research projects that help guide them to pursue advanced training in toxicology (for undergraduate students), lead to a Ph.D. dissertation (for predoctoral trainees), or develop independent research projects (for postdoctoral fellows). During their research training experiences, students learn specific techniques to carry out the research, experimental design, statistical analysis, and presentation of research findings in oral and written forms. Through interactions across departments, the training faculty and students have access to state-of-the-art facilities that allow for the seamless integration of novel genomic, proteomic, molecular, histopathologic, and imaging technologies into their research projects.
The distinguished group of faculty mentors participating in the CMCT have active independent research programs in diverse areas of toxicology. However, each of the CMCT faculty’s research shares a focus on deciphering the underlying cellular, biochemical, and molecular responses to environmental exposures. This common vision of the training faculty and the contemporary state-of-the-art biochemical, molecular, and cellular approaches that they employ in their experimental approaches coalesce to make this a distinctive and cohesive research and educational training program in molecular and cellular toxicology.