About ICMB

The Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology (ICMB) is a university-wide, interdisciplinary research unit, whose goal is to promote cell and molecular biology research and education at the University of Texas at Austin. Established as an administrative unit in 1993, full funding for ICMB began in September 1997 with my appointment as first permanent Director and the opening of the Louise and James Robert Moffett Molecular Biology Building (MBB). ICMB currently has more than 120 faculty members affiliated with 17 separate departments in the Colleges of Natural Sciences, Engineering, and Pharmacy. ICMB faculty are broadly interdisciplinary with research areas including biochemistry, cell and developmental biology, molecular biology, molecular evolution, molecular genetics, microbiology, nanoscience, systems biology, neurobiology, chemical biology, drug development, structural biology, biophysics, biodefense, nutrition, pharmaceutical sciences, bioengineering, bioinformatics, and computational biology. The faculty is highly interactive and engages in numerous interdisciplinary collaborations, a major strength compared to other cell and molecular biology programs. A strong component of research in ICMB is medically oriented, similar to medical school basic science departments. This medical orientation has been enhanced by a new MD-PhD program with University Texas Medical Branch and by interfaces with the new Dell Pediatrics Research Institute, which will provide additional opportunities for translational medical research.

ICMB has three major functions: (1) It provides a focus and support for faculty hiring in cell and molecular biology; (2) it provides financial and administrative support for the university-wide graduate program in Cell and Molecular Biology (CMB); and (3) it supports staffed core facilities, which house large capital equipment required for cell and molecular biology research. The CMB graduate program and core facilities are described in detail elsewhere in this brochure. MBB is also home to the ICMB-affiliated Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology, Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research, and major components of the newly established Texas Institute for Drug and Diagnostic Development.

In its ten years of existence, ICMB has helped recruit more than fifty new faculty members in more than 10 different departments. The CMB graduate program has expanded from a total of nine graduate students in 1994 to the current total of over 200 graduate students. And each year, 250-300 undergraduates carry out research in ICMB laboratories.

ICMB hosts a weekly interdisciplinary seminar series in Cell and Molecular Biology, with invited speakers from other leading universities and research institutes. We sponsor two endowed annual lectures, the Walter J. Burdette Distinguished Lecture in Molecular Genetics and, with the School of Biological Sciences, the Paul D. Gottlieb lecture which is organized and hosted by CMB graduate students. These lecture series bring high profile scientists to The University of Texas campus. Additionally, an annual retreat for ICMB faculty, staff, and graduate students fosters interdepartmental interactions and collaborations. The CMB graduate program is responsible for graduate core courses in Genetics, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell and Developmental Biology, as well as a series of graduate seminar courses. ICMB also hosts a Monday night seminar course (with pizza and soda provided) in which ICMB faculty discuss their research with interested undergraduates in an informal atmosphere.This website introduces you to ICMB faculty and their research programs, the CMB graduate program, and our state-of-the art facilities. The first ten years are only the beginning.