The Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) at the University of Michigan is committed to advancing the understanding of living organisms at the cellular and molecular level, encompassing approaches from the biophysical analysis of macromolecules to systems biology. MCDB researchers use a range of model systems including in vitro, bacterial, fungal, plant, and animal systems. Many MCDB researchers connect their research to clinical and other practical applications, but the primary intellectual focus is on understanding the fundamental mechanisms that sustain life.
Our educational mission includes providing high-quality classroom instruction to a large number of undergraduate students and hands-on research training to the next generation of scientists – including undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, visiting scientists, and research staff – in our state-of-the-art laboratories.
MCDB’s undergraduate curriculum provides paths for students to specialize in different areas of biology. MCDB also instructs our undergraduates with discussion-driven upper-level courses focused on critical analysis of primary research literature led by faculty conducting research in these areas, well-equipped lab courses that are often project based, and the opportunity to perform independent research in our labs.
Our educational and research missions are intertwined as we train graduate students and postdocs and work collaboratively to drive research discovery. We provide opportunities for our trainees to increase their scientific independence and participate in professional development and outreach opportunities so that they can find their place in the scientific enterprise within academia, industry, or other careers.
Our vibrant research community is proud to attract scholars from around Michigan, the country, and the world. We are dedicated to training and mentoring, scientific excellence, building community within MCDB and beyond, and we strive to make the fields of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology more accessible to everyone, regardless of their background.
Where we are located in the Biological Sciences Building on central campus. Our undergraduate services through the Program in Biology are also found on the 2nd Floor of the Biological Sciences Building. This section includes how to reach us, some driving directions, airport information and more.
Follow the evolution of the department called Molecular, Cellular & Development Biology from its origins in Botany and Zoology in 1837.
Land Acknowledgement
Anishinaabeg gaa bi dinokiiwaad temigad manda Michigan Kichi Kinoomaagegamig. Mdaaswi nshwaaswaak shi mdaaswi shi niizhawaaswi gii-sababoonagak, Ojibweg, Odawaag, minwaa Bodwe’aadamiig wiiba gii-miigwenaa’aa maamoonjiniibina Kichi Kinoomaagegamigoong wi pii-gaa aanjibiigaadeg Kichi-Naakonigewinning, debendang manda aki, mampii Niisaajiwan, gewiinwaa niijaansiwaan ji kinoomaagaazinid. Daapanaming ninda kidwinan, megwaa minwaa gaa bi aankoosejig zhinda akiing minwaa gii-miigwewaad Kichi-Kinoomaagegamigoong aanji-daapinanigaade minwaa mshkowenjigaade.
The University of Michigan is located on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe people. In 1817, the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Bodewadami Nations made the largest single land transfer to the University of Michigan. This was offered ceremonially as a gift through the Treaty at the Foot of the Rapids so that their children could be educated. Through these words of acknowledgment, their contemporary and ancestral ties to the land and their contributions to the University are renewed and reaffirmed.
