Training Groups
PULSe interdisciplinary research areas of focus.
PULSe offers nine specialized training groups focused on key life science disciplines, providing doctoral students with access to an expansive network of nearly 200 distinguished faculty members across nearly 30 university departments. This unique structure allows Ph.D. students to engage in laboratory rotations and groundbreaking research in a highly collaborative learning environment. With access to state-of-the-art research facilities and advanced scientific equipment, students in the PULSe graduate program gain the skills and experience necessary to excel in their life sciences careers.
Mission: Students in this training group work with a diverse group of faculties that use modern molecular technology and analytical approaches to explore evolutionary processes and the structure of natural populations. Examples include the identification and exploitation of adaptive traits and processes in crops, livestock, and wildlife, as well as the pests and parasites that interact with those species. As such, they focus on identifying the mechanisms that have driven biological evolution and on uncovering evidence of important evolutionary change.
Research Includes: Enzyme Catalysis, Membrane Protein Structure, Xray Crystallography, Biological NMR Spectroscopy, Computational Chemistry/Biology, Protein Evolution, RNA Structure/Biochemistry, Signaling Protein Structure, Virus Structure, Metallprotein Structure, Protein Dynamics
Mission: The mission of the Biotechnology Training Group is to develop highly skilled scientists and engineers who excel at the intersection between biology and engineering. The evolution of engineering and its influence on the discovery, design, implementation and translation of biology requires future students who are capable of merging instrumentation, quantitative methods and engineering principles seamlessly into the discipline. Because of the breadth in focus, students with both engineering and non-engineering backgrounds can be admitted. Research is centered on addressing global challenges related to human health, the environment, biofuels, and renewable energy.
Research Includes: Bioenergy, Biofuels, Bio-nanotechnology, Biosensors, Biospectroscopy and Imaging, Computational Biology, Devices, Engineering, Human Health, Nanotechnology, Quantitative Biology, Renewable Energy, Systems Biology, The Environment
Mission: Students who join this training group work with a diverse group of faculties that apply chemical-based approaches to further understanding of living systems. Fundamental and technical advances in chemistry, biochemistry, and structural and molecular biology over the past several decades have provided unprecedented opportunities to probe living systems at a molecular level.
Research Includes: Bio-catalysis, Bio-Orthogonal Chemical Biology, Cellular Regulation, Directed Evolution, Drug Discovery, Glycobiology, Lipid Biochemistry, Metallobiochemistry, Molecular Recognition, Molecular Sensing, Protein Folding and Assembly, Protein Trafficking, Receptor Pharmacology
Mission: The mission of the Computational and Systems Biology (CSB) group is to train a new generation of highly skilled and interdisciplinary graduate students who are competent in multiple disciplines in biology and the quantitative sciences. The objective is that students will be able to navigate between disciplines and be highly proficient scientists operating at the interface of the life sciences and quantitative sciences.
Research Includes: Systems Biology, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Computational Chemistry, Quantitative Biology, Synthetic Biology, Genomic, Quantitative Genetics and Proteomic
Mission: Neuroscience is a truly integrative discipline, as evidenced by the fact of that faculty (>100) in this program are drawn from approximately 25 departments representing 6 colleges at Purdue University. Both the breadth and depth of the research programs among the Purdue faculty span the nervous systems of diverse species, e.g. fruit flies, zebra fish, mice, rats, and humans. Further, the research approach among these systems spans the molecular, ceullularphysiological, and behavioral levels of analysis.
Diseases Studied: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Anxiety Disorders, Autism and Fragile X Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, Chronic Pain, Epilepsy, Hearing and Vision Loss, Mental Illness, Parkinson’s Disease, Substance Use Disorder, Tourette’s Syndrome, Traumatic Injury
Areas Studied: Amyloid Plaques, Axonal Growth, Blood-brain Barrier Function, Cognition, Memory and Learning, Computational Cognitive Neuroscience, Epigenetics, Intracellular Signaling, Ion Channel Physiology, Metabolism and Food Intake, Neural Networks, Neuroanatomy, Neuron -glia Interactions, Oxidative Stress, Protein Aggregation, Receptor Signaling, Vision and Hearin
Techniques Studied: Animal Behavior, Bionanotechnology and Biosensor Production, Chemo-genetics, Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy, CRISPr Genetic Manipulations, Electrophysiology, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Opto-genetics, Pharmacokinetics & Pharmacodynamics, Two-Photon Microscopy
Mission: Students are educated in the basic and fundamental understanding of cell membranes, their components, and how membrane and membrane-associated processes control numerous cellular functions. Students are involved in the transfer of these discoveries.
Research Includes: Beta-Glucan Synthesis, Bioenergetics, Cell to Cell Communication, Cell Wall Synthesis, Cellular Energetics, Cellulose Synthases, Exo/Endocytosis, Flip-Flop, Glycoprotein Synthesis, Glycosyl Transferases, Golgi Apparatus, Lateral Diffusion, Lipid Trafficking, Membrane Dynamics, Membrane Microdomains, Membrane Proteins, Membrane-Associated Enzymes, Phase Behavior, Plant Membranes, Plant Polysaccharide Synthesis, Protein Trafficking, Protein-Lipid Interactions, Signaling Platforms, Transmembrane Transport
Mission: Students in the Microbiology Training Group receive a broad background in biochemistry, cellular biology, cellular microbiology, ecology, environmental biology, microbial biology, microbial physiology, molecular biology, and molecular genetics. This training provides students with the expertise for positions in fields ranging from basic research on microbial systems and ecosystems, through environmental management of contaminated habitats and infectious disease prevention, to applications of microbial activities, to food processing, and biotechnology.
The goal of the Immunology and Infectious Disease Training Group is to prepare the next generation of research scientists, teachers, and decision-makers to address fundamental problems in immunology and infectious diseases. The Training Group offers an integrated, interdisciplinary environment for students to learn about the body’s preparation for and responses to infection, injury, and inflammation, and the molecular mechanisms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. Students in the Immunology and Infectious Diseases Training Group develop a broad understanding of biochemistry, cellular biology, host-pathogen interactions, immunology, microbiology, and molecular biology. This training provides students with a strong foundation in basic applied research that will prepare them for a wide range of careers in academia, government and industry.
Research Includes: Biocatalysis, Bioremediation, Cellular Microbiology, Systems Biology, Metabolic Engineering, Antibiotic and Antiviral Drug Development and Design, Gene Expression, Metabolic Flux Analysis, Microbe-Host Interactions, Microbial Diversity, Microbial Ecology, Microbial Encophysiology, Immunology, Inflammation, Microbial/Functional Genomics, Microbial/Molecular Genetics, Molecular Stress Response, Protein Phosphorylation, Signal Transduction, Virus Assembly/Structure, Vaccine Development, Molecular Pathogenesis/Genetics
Mission: To train the next generation of leaders in cancer research and develop new knowledge that will translate into improved outcomes for cancer patients.
The Cancer Biology training program combines rigorous basic biomedical sciences with translational research experiences in relation to human cancer. The program is in strong affiliation with the Purdue Center for Cancer Research (PCCR). We have been a National Cancer Institute designated center for over 40 years. The PCCR and the Cancer Biology training program include research labs from numerous departments across campus; all focus on graduate education in cancer research.
A major goal of our program is to encourage and facilitate the development of integrated, interdisciplinary approaches by promoting collaborations within our training group and with other research areas such as pharmacology, biomedical engineering, and chemical biology
Research Includes: Metastasis, Immunotherapy, microRNAs, Metabolism, Systemic Tumor Dormancy, Growth Factor Signaling, 3D Culture Systems, Apoptosis, Cell Cycle, Cell Differentiation, Epigenetics, Transcription Factors
Mission: Through the Center for Plant Biology (CPB), trainees have access to innovative curricula, diverse research, and world-class facilities. A community of 36 faculty members provides a broad base of resources and research opportunities, from ecology to reproductive cell biology. Graduate students benefit from nearly 40 specialized research core facilities, as well as state-of-the art plant imaging technology and expertise to support basic research in a broad range of sub disciplines.
Research Includes: Ecological and Ecological Genetics, Plant and Insect Chemical Ecology, Reproductive Cell Biology, Cell Wall Biology, Cytoskeleton and Membrane Dynamics, Plant Pathogen Interactions, Hormone and Stress Physiology/Biology, Plant Metabolism, Biochemical Genetics, Regulation of Photosynthesis, Genetics, Epigenetics, and Genomics, Computational Biology
