St. Jude Children's Research Hospital gets approval for new graduate school of biomedical sciences

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has received a unanimous vote of approval from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission for the opening of a new graduate school of biomedical sciences.

The St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences will train the next generation of academic researchers in a one-of-a-kind interdisciplinary environment - one that brings together diverse scientific disciplines to work at the interface between basic and clinical research. St. Jude is home to more than 200 basic scientists and clinicians working across 21 academic departments.

"The graduate school will play an important role in our research efforts to advance cures for pediatric catastrophic diseases," said James R. Downing, M.D., St. Jude president and chief executive officer, "Talented graduate students are a creative and energetic force that will contribute to the kind of innovation required for progress against cancer and other life-threatening diseases. These students will ask the unexpected questions, challenge fundamental assumptions and will help tackle the most difficult scientific problems."

St. Jude was the first pediatric cancer research institution to unite doctors, scientists and patients under one roof, creating a worldwide model for the bench-to-bedside approach in the research and treatment of childhood cancers and other life-threatening diseases. Keeping with the St. Jude culture, collaborative, translational research will be a major emphasis, and students will interact extensively with clinical faculty and patients. The hospital's goal is to create scientific leaders of distinction who will discover the next generation of cures.

Interactions with the neighboring University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Le Bonheur Children's Hospital will provide students with invaluable clinical and research experience. State-of-the-art resources at St. Jude and its partner institutions will offer many opportunities for students interested not only in traditional biomedical disciplines but also chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science.

Stephen White, D.Phil., a faculty member in the St. Jude Department of Structural Biology, will serve as dean of the St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. "We want to attract the most ambitious and adventurous students who are willing to take on the challenges of learning in a multidisciplinary environment," White said. "Our faculty will provide a unique mentoring experience that will fully support the development of independent-minded postdoctoral fellows who will become leaders in their chosen fields and have a major impact on translational research."