Quantitative and Systems Biology GRADUATE STUDIES AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED (M.S., Ph.D.)

ACCELERATING DISCOVERY: The Quantitative and Systems Biology (QSB) Graduate Group at UC Merced offers cross-disciplinary doctoral and masters training to students from many fields in science and engineering, in diverse areas of biological research. With outstanding faculty across seven disciplines, QSB offers unique and competitive advantages to its diverse student body. QSB students train to communicate across boundaries while mastering core disciplines and skills.

QSB invites applications from all aspiring experimental, field and computational biologists who have basic training and experience in one or more core research skills such as laboratory work, fieldwork, mathematical modeling, statistics or computer programming. Students with diverse backgrounds, talents, and interests are encouraged to apply. A non-mandatory rotation track is available to first-year students.

DISCIPLINARY STRENGTHS ❯ Biochemistry and Molecular Biology ❯ Cell and Developmental Biology ❯ Computational Biology and Bioinformatics ❯ Ecosystem Ecology ❯ Mathematical and Theoretical Biology ❯ Microbial Evolution and Ecology ❯ Microbiology and Immunology ❯ Molecular and Cell Biology ❯ Molecular Evolution and Genomics ❯ Molecular Systems Biology ❯ Neurobiology ❯ Organismal and Integrative INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING Biology QSB faculty collaborate across seven academic units: molecular cell biology, life and environmental ❯ Physical Biology sciences, chemistry, physics, applied mathematics, biological engineering and cognitive and information ❯ Physiology sciences.

❯ Population Ecology, Genetics and QSB aims to increase diversity in the workforce of scientists. In QSB, biologists are encouraged to train Genomics across scientific disciplines (e.g. physics, engineering, mathematics), and students in any field of science ❯ Structural Biology may train to become biologists. QSB has recently begun offering a Molecular and Cell Biology (MCB) concentration, which provides in-depth training in 'wet-lab' experimental findings and techniques. ❯ Synthetic Biology ❯ Systems Ecology FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES Ph.D. students in good standing receive four years of year-round financial support, including payment of fees and tuition. Each doctoral student receives a base stipend of $25,000 per year. Students are typically CONTACT supported by teaching and research assistantships, which can be supplemented by a variety of For additional details, please visit our fellowships, awards and other forms of financial assistance. website, qsb.ucmerced.edu, or contact: TO APPLY MIRIAM BARLOW, Program Chair Applicants are encouraged to visit the QSB website, qsb.ucmerced.edu for details and to contact EMAIL: [email protected] QSB faculty members whose research is of interest. All potential applicants are required to complete the General Test of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) and include a Curriculum Vitae. KIRK JENSEN, Admissions Chair EMAIL: [email protected]

CLARISSA NOBILE, Recruitment Chair EMAIL: [email protected] qsb.ucmerced.edu Faculty QUANTITATIVE AND SYSTEMS BIOLOGY

DAVID ARDELL — molecular and cell CAROLIN FRANK — life and environmental GABRIELLA LOOTS, Lawrence Livermore MARK SISTROM — life and environmental biology | Computational biology and evolution sciences | Genome and community dynamics National Laboratory — molecular and cell sciences | Viral evolution, metagenomics and of gene expression mechanisms of bacterial endophytes in conifer trees biology | Organismal systems biology, limb genomics with a focus on comparative and skeletal development, genetics of bone methods MIRIAM BARLOW — molecular and cell MARCOS GARCIA-OJEDA, Associate Teaching metabolism, transcriptomics biology | Experimental evolution of antibiotic Professor — molecular and cell biology PAUL SMALDINO — cognitive and resistance in bacteria General microbiology, microbial systems JENNIFER MANILAY — molecular and cell information sciences | Population dynamics, biology | Developmental immunology, cell fate social and cultural evolution, self-organization, LAURA BEASTER-JONES, Assistant Teaching XUECAI GE— molecular and cell biology regulation, hematopoiesis mathematical and computational modeling Professor — molecular and cell biology Cell signaling in neural development, brain Evolution and development of chordates, tumors and neurological disorders KARA McCLOSKEY — biological engineering ANAND BALA SUBRAMANIAM — developmental gene regulatory networks Stem cell and tissue engineering for physics | Experimental biophysics, cellular AJAY GOPINATHAN — physics | Theory at regenerative medicine applications reconstitution, experimental synthetic biology ANNA BEAUDIN — molecular and cell the interface of biophysics and soft condensed biology | Defining origin of developmentally- matter physics EMILY JANE McTAVISH — life and SUSANNAH TRINGE, DOE Joint Genome restricted immune cells and developmental environmental sciences | Computational Institute | life and environmental sciences basis of immune dysfunction STEPHEN HART — life and environmental approaches to big trees and big data, Sequence-based approaches to studying sciences | Terrestrial wildland ecosystems phylogenetics genomics, The Open Tree microbial community assembly, function and MICHAEL BEMAN — life and environmental ecology, plant and soil microbe interactions of Life dynamics sciences | Microbial ecology and biogeochemical cycling in the oceans AARON HERNDAY — molecular and cell EMILY MORAN — life and environmental CHRISTOPHER VINEY — biological biology | Epigenetic and transcriptional sciences | Evolutionary ecology of plant engineering | Biomolecular materials, JESSICA BLOIS — life and environmental networks, metabolic engineering of yeasts responses to environmental change biologically inspired material synthesis and sciences | Terrestrial paleoecology, niche and processing community modeling and phylochronology LINDA HIRST — physics | Experimental soft VICTOR MUÑOZ — biological engineering matter physics and biophysics Protein folding, structure prediction and AXEL VISEL, DOE Joint Genome Institute WEI-CHUN CHIN — biological engineering design, protein aggregation molecular and cell biology | Human Polymer physics and engineering of cellular KATRINA HOYER — molecular and cell functional genomics and enhancers in and environmental systems biology | Immunological tolerance and CHIH-WEN NI — biological engineering development and disease auto-immune disease, regulatory T cells Mechanobiology, angiogenesis, vascular MICHAEL CLEARY — molecular and cell biology ZHONG WANG — DOE Joint Genome Institute biology | Cell fate decisions and regulation in EMILIA HUERTA-SANCHEZ — molecular molecular and cell biology | Applications of Drosophila neural stem cells and RNA decay and cell biology | Human population CLARISSA NOBILE — molecular and cell high performance computing to genomics, biostatistics and molecular biology | Molecular development of microbial big-sequencing data and machine learning MICHAEL COLVIN — chemistry | Models of evolution communities, biofilm formation biological processes and molecular dynamics FRED WOLF — molecular and cell biology of disordered proteins KIRK JENSEN — molecular and cell biology RUDY ORTIZ — molecular and cell biology Genetic and neural coding of behavior in Parasite pathogenesis and immunology, Aldosterone in cardiovascular disease and Drosophila MICHAEL DAWSON — life and toxoplasma and host-immune responses Angiotensin II in metabolic diseases environmental sciences | Evolutionary STEPHANIE WOO — molecular and cell ecology, biogeography and phylogeography of SHILPA KHATRI — applied mathematics NÉSTOR J. OVIEDO — molecular and cell biology | Endoderm development and marine invertebrates Fluid-structure interactions and multiphase biology | Stem cell regulation, cancer and epithelial morphogenesis in zebrafish flows in the ocean regeneration in planarians EVA DE ALBA — biological engineering TANJA WOYKE, DOE Joint Genome Institute Biochemical and biophysical approaches to CHANGQING LI — biological engineering SCOTT ROY, San Francisco State University life and environmental sciences | Microbial understanding the molecular mechanisms Cancer imaging, cancer therapy, fluorescence molecular and cell biology | Molecular genomics of candidate phyla representatives regulating inflammation and programmed cell molecular tomography, x-ray imaging, evolution, gene/genome structure, and development of functionally targeted death. biomedical imaging intragenomic conflict, balancing selection, sex single-cell approaches chromosomes and determination DANIELLE EDWARDS — life and environ- BIN LIU — physics | Bacterial motility in JING XU — physics | Experimental biophysics, mental sciences | Ecological, phenotypic, complex media, single-cell behavior in RAMEN SAHA — molecular and cell biology quantitative biology single-molecule analysis genomic and behavioral evolution of reptiles biological processes Epigenetic mechanisms of neuronal gene of molecular motors and amphibians transcription, roles in mental health and ANDY LIWANG — chemistry | Structural autism JUSTIN YEAKEL — life and environmental ARIEL ESCOBAR — biological engineering biology of circadian clock proteins and nucleic sciences | Animal foraging and food web Cardiac cellular signaling and techniques to acids, NMR spectroscopy JASON SEXTON — life and environmental dynamics over space and time study cardiac cells in vivo sciences | Plant adaptation, species range PATRICIA J. LIWANG — molecular and cell limits biological invasions and evolutionary MARIA ELENA ZOGHBI — molecular and FABIAN FILIPP — molecular and cell biology biology | Biochemistry and structural biology conservation science cell biology | Structural, biochemical and Systems biology, fluxomics of cancer of chemokines, anti-HIV microbicides functional studies of membrane transport metabolism and metabolic disease SUZANNE SINDI — applied mathematics proteins Mathematical biology, dynamical systems and computational biology and bioinformatics

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