harvard university genetics phd

Molecular and Cellular Biology

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In this interdisciplinary program, you will interact with students and faculty who have diverse backgrounds in chemistry, marine biology, computational biology, and others. The skills you will learn in your first year include coding, how to write fellowships, and how to give scientific talks to a non-science audience. You will begin bonding with your small cohort of fellow students with an annual trip to Cape Cod to talk about science at the beginning of the academic year.

Dissertations that students have completed include "Characterization of the epigenetic regulator LSD1 as a Druggable Dependency in Treatment of Resistant Melanoma" and "Circadian Clocks in the Real World: Effects of Dynamic Light Regimes on the Regulation of Circadian Gene Expression in Cyanobacteria."

Graduates have secured positions in industry with companies such as Google, Genentech, and Novartis. Others serve in academic positions at many prestigious schools including Harvard, Caltech, Stanford, and MIT among others.

Additional information on the graduate program is available from the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology , and requirements for the degree are detailed in Policies .

Areas of Study

Molecules, Cells, and Organisms

Admissions Requirements

Please review admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program-specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology .

Academic Background

Applicants should have a record of introductory courses in chemistry, biology, physics, and mathematics. While the following courses should not be regarded as prerequisites for admission to graduate study, most admitted students have completed these courses as undergraduates:

• Biology (at least one general course in biology and two terms of biology at a more advanced level)
• Biochemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Physical chemistry
• Physics (a general course)
• Mathematics (a basic knowledge of differential and integral calculus). Competence in elementary programming is also desirable.
• Laboratory in biology, biochemistry, or instrumental analysis.

Statement of Purpose

Describe your reasons and motivations for pursuing a graduate degree in your chosen degree program, noting the experiences that shaped your research ambitions, indicating briefly your career objectives and concisely stating your past work in your intended field of study and in related fields. Your statement should not exceed 1,000 words.

In addition to the above guidance, your statement of purpose should also address the following questions:

• The focus of this question should be a discovery in which you had substantial engagement and personal impact on the research. Do not reference a large group project simply because it was interesting. 
• If you have not had significant research experience, please describe a scientific discovery that motivated you to pursue research. 
• Using simple language, describe what you or others did, why, and what it means.
• Molecular Mechanism
• Cell and Developmental Biology
• Molecular Ecology and Evolution
• Choose two MCO faculty members that you are interested to work with and explain why using a specific example from their published work.

Standardized Tests

GRE General: Not Accepted iBT TOEFL preferred minimum score: 100 IELTS preferred minimum score: 7

Theses & Dissertations

Theses & Dissertations for Molecular and Cellular Biology

See list of Molecular and Cellular Biology faculty

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.

Harvard University COVID-19 updates

Our Science    

We research and teach how the collective behavior of molecules and cells forms the basis of life. We are driven by a passion for discovery and value collaborative approaches to scientific inquiry, where connections between people fuel interdisciplinary science and break boundaries across varied experimental systems. Against a backdrop of cutting-edge biological research, we work as a team of educators and mentors to inspire and train the next generation of scientists and global citizens.    

  Our Community    

At the core of the MCB department is a commitment to foster an environment in which all individuals have the opportunity to thrive. It is our shared responsibility to create an inclusive culture, where we support and respect each other as colleagues. We embrace a diverse range of perspectives, expertise, identities, experiences, talents, and abilities. By continually strengthening this foundation of investing in the well-being of our people, we enable our community’s growth and pursuit of the creative and innovative approaches that underlie scientific excellence.    

Our Guiding Principles

We hold ourselves and the community accountable to the following set of values:    

Respect   We foster a safe and supportive environment where everyone is treated with respect and dignity and is able to work towards their aspirations .    

Engagement We encourage difficult conversations about racial, gender, structural and other inequities in our labs, institutions, and society .   We listen actively and openly and seek to continually learn from one another during these respectful and open dialogues .  

Action   We take active steps to diversify our community demographics , promote equit able practices , and eliminate systemic racism and other inequities in our departmental structures .    

Support   We prioritize the well-being of our community members and create avenues of support for all , with a particular focus on the needs of B lack people , I ndigenous people , people of color , first generation students, people from underprivileged backgrounds , and other community members underrepresented in the scientific community .   We prioritize diversity, inclusion, and belonging work, advocat e for it at all levels and actively includ e it in all departmental discussions.   

Integrity  

We carry out our work responsibly and ethically, recognizing that our own choices are reflection s of both ourselves and our community. As a department, we are committed to building institutional accountability and transparency in our decision-making processes.    

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR Our research

Latest News

• April 5, 2024

MCB Hosts Dudley Herschbach Teacher/Scientist Lecture 2024

All are invited to attend the Dudley Herschbach Lecture on Thursday, April 18th at noon in the Northwest Building B103. The Herschbach teacher/scientist lecture series recognizes scholars who […]

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• March 28, 2024

Pietro de Camilli to Present 2024 Konrad Bloch Lecture on April 11

This year’s Bloch lecture will be delivered by HHMI Investigator Pietro de Camilli whose research centers on neuronal cell biology in health and disease. At Yale University, where […]

• March 27, 2024

April MCB Community Forum – SUBMIT QUESTIONS BY April 3

MCB Chair, Rachelle Gaudet, will host the next MCB Community Forum scheduled for Friday, April 12 at 4:00 pm in BL1080.  There will be time for in-person questions […]

Upcoming Events

Dissertation defense: paula pelayo.

• 3pm - Tuesday Apr 9, 2024
• Biological Laboratories Room 1080

Dissertation Defense: Zaneta Matuszek

• 1pm - Wednesday Apr 10, 2024
• Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology Harvard University 38 Oxford Street Cambridge, MA 02138
• (617) 495-2300
• (617) 495-9956

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Mass General Research Institute

Heidi Rehm, Ph.D.

Research interests, research narrative.

Heidi Rehm is a board-certified laboratory geneticist working to guide genomic testing for clinical and clinical research use. She is a principal investigator of ClinGen, providing free and publicly accessible resources to support the interpretation of genes and variants. Rehm also co-leads the Broad Center for Mendelian Genomics focused on discovering novel rare disease genes and co-leads the Matchmaker Exchange to also aid in gene discovery. She is a strong advocate and pioneer of open science and data sharing, working to extend these approaches through her role as Chair of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health. Rehm is also a principal investigator of the Broad-LMM-Color All of Us Genome Center supporting the sequencing and return of results to a cohort of one million individuals in the US and co-leading gnomAD, the Genome Aggregation Database. She serves as Vice President of Laboratory Genetics and a Board Member of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics as well as an advisor to the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium, Danish National Genome Center, Monarch Initiative, and CIViC database. She serves journal editor or advisor roles with American Journal of Human Genetics, Cell Genomics, Genome Medicine and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Molecular Case Studies. She is the 2022 recipient of the Scientific Achievement Award from the American Society of Human Genetics and has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers.

Rehm received her bachelor's degree from Middlebury College in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. She completed her PhD in Genetics at Harvard University studying the genetic and pathological basis of Norrie Disease, a deaf-blindness syndrome, and served as a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, expanding her studies into the genetic basis of hearing loss.

Contact Info

Doctoral Program

Phd in biostatistics.

The PhD program is designed for those who have demonstrated both interest and ability in scholarly research. The department’s program is designed to prepare students for careers in the theory and practice of biostatistics and bioinformatics, and includes training in the development of methodology, consulting, teaching, and collaboration on a broad spectrum of problems related to human health, genomics, and basic biology.

Download the Biostatistics Doctoral Student Handbook  for more information on the doctoral program, and  download the Biostatistics Master’s Student Handbook  for more information on the Masters’ programs.

The Ph.D. program in Biostatistics prepares students in the following five competencies:

• Applying innovative probabilistic and statistical theory and computing methods to the development of new biostatistical or bioinformatics methodology, publishing of original methodological research, and the solution of public health problems
• Providing scientific and biostatistical or bioinformatics leadership in the design, conduct, and analysis of collaborative research studies in medicine and public health
• Applying modern statistical and computational methods to effectively analyze complex medical and public health data, including the development of new software for non-standard problems and simulation methods
• Collaborating and communicating effectively with research scientists in related disciplines
• Teaching biostatistics or bioinformatics effectively to health professionals, research scientists, and graduate students

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

All candidates for admission to the ph.d. programs  must have :.

• Successfully completed calculus through multivariable integration and one semester of linear algebra
• Knowledge of a programming language

All candidates for admission to the Ph.D. programs  are  encouraged to have :

• Completed courses in: probability, statistics, advanced calculus or real analysis, and numerical analysis
• Practical knowledge of a statistical computing package such as SAS, Splus, R, Stata, or SPSS
• Have completed courses in biology, computational biology, and genetics, if interested in bioinformatics
• Knowledge of a scripting language such as Python or Perl and some familiarity with relational databases, if interested in bioinformatics

On rare occasions the Department will admit students to our programs without this level of preparation with the understanding that the student will promptly make up any deficiencies, usually by taking additional courses prior to entering the program.

We provide full financial support (tuition, fees, and stipend) to all doctoral students in good standing for 4 to 5 years. This support comes from a variety of sources, including:

• NIH training and research grants
• Teaching fellowships
• Competitive  Harvard Chan School  &  GSAS  scholarships

We also encourage doctoral students to apply for outside funding during their senior year of undergraduate study, such as NSF and NDSEG fellowships, which often award stipends larger than those provided by the Department.  Foreign applicants may be eligible for funding from Harvard-related sources based in their home country as well.

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Population & Evolutionary Genetics Faculty

We study variation within and between populations at the molecular and phenotypic levels. We strive to understand the evolutionary forces molding genetic variation in natural populations and the mechanistic basis of phenotypic evolution. Our study systems vary from microbes to animals and plants, and to mathematical theory.