NYU’s Sackler Institute for Graduate Biomedical Sciences at the School of Medicine will partner this fall with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to offer a select number of young scientists a training program of exceptional breadth and diversity in the rapidly expanding field of structural biology.

Using such technology as X-ray crystallography, cryoelectron microscopy, mass spectrometry, magnetic resonance imaging, and computational methods, the doctoral program—the only one of its kind in the country—will train students to explore the full range of this dynamic field, from the structure of a single molecule to the complex organization of the brain.

The study of biology at the molecular and cellular levels has exploded in recent years, due in large part to the powerful technologies that allow researchers to “visualize” living cells and organs in exquisite detail.  

3-D Models: Structural biologists devise images like the one above - showing an HIV protein bound to viral RNA (in gold) - to illustrate how molecules function.

They can zero in on the structure of a single protein, determine the organization of tiny organelles only nanometers in length lying within cells (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter), and take breathtaking pictures of cells and much larger structures, like organs.

“Overall, structural biology has had an impact on virtually every field of biomedical research,” explains Joel D. Oppenheim, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Microbiology and Senior Associate Dean for Biomedical Sciences. “It has elucidated the function of biological molecules within living organisms, clarified the actual structure of organs, and opened new avenues of investigation.”

With this in mind, NIH sought to partner with an institution dedicated to quality education, one with expertise in diverse fields. The Sackler Institute, a division of NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences established for the very purpose of drawing upon and integrating diverse, University-wide resources, fit the bill.

Developed under the leadership of Dr. Oppenheim, the new doctoral program was able to draw on faculty from the School of Medicine and the Departments of Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics at NYU’s Washington Square Campus, as well as scientists from various NIH institutes in Bethesda, MD. NIH, the government’s foremost center for biomedical training and research, has more than 1,200 research faculty and 3,600 postdoctoral fellows dedicated to biomedical research and the training of researchers. This breadth of disciplines assures that a student’s particular research interest, no matter how novel or interdisciplinary, will find support.

Students accepted into the program are fully supported throughout their terms (usually five years) with stipend, tuition, fee waivers, and health insurance. Upon completion, students receive the Ph.D. degree from New York University.