Physiology: Modern Cell Biology Using Microscopic, Biochemical
and Computational Approaches
Directors: Dyche Mullins, University of California, San
Francisco; and Clare Waterman, NHLBI / NIH
Course Date: June 12 - August 1, 2010
Online Application Form, (PDF) Deadline: February 1, 2010
Course Website | 2009 Lecture Schedule (PDF)
The Physiology Course has a rich history, dating back to 1892, of training the leaders in
biology and generating Nobel Prize experiments. However, this is not your grandfather’s
Physiology Course! This intensive laboratory course has been revamped to meet the new
challenges in biology by providing a unique interdisciplinary training environment at the
interface between cellular and computational biology. The Physiology Course will bring
together biological and physical/computational scientists, both in the faculty and the student
body, to work together on cutting-edge problems in cell physiology. Students will learn from
leaders in the field of cellular physiology, microscopy, and computational analysis. Students
with backgrounds in both the biological and physical/computational sciences are encouraged
to apply.
The course design will promote learning by practice, with a particular emphasis on
stimulating experimental creativity and interdisciplinary approaches. Biology students will
leave the course able to understand and author computer simulations, and physical science
students will leave understanding the language of biology, and with experience working on
cutting edge biological problems. Students will participate in three research threads (cell
division, cell migration, and signaling) that will run through the whole course. Each thread
will intensively use microscopy, biochemistry, and computational analysis to address
research problems in a highly collaborative setting. State-of-the-art microscopes, as well as
other advanced equipment, will be available. It is anticipated that these threads will lead to
research discoveries, as well as providing learning opportunities. Post course research
opportunities exist for selected students.
To inspire students, and provide them with a sense of the history and future of cell
physiology, a visiting scholar program has been established. This program brings four
eminent scientists to the MBL for a week. They deliver one or more lectures to the entire
community, and participate in both the intellectual and experimental aspects of the course.
This course is supported with funds provided by
National Institute of General Medical Sciences NIH
Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Rockefeller University Press / Journal of Cell Biology
Center for Modular Biology, Harvard University
2010 Faculty
Gaudenz Danuser, The Scripps Research Institute
Michael Davidson, Florida State University
Robert Fischer, NHLBI / National Institutes of Health
Daniel Fletcher, University of California, Berkeley
Melissa Gardner, Max Planck Institute
Ethan Garner, Harvard University
John Hammer, NHLBI / National Institutes of Health
KC Huang, Stanford University
Khuloud Jaquaman, Harvard Medical School
Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, NICHD, National Institutes of Health
Wallace Marshall, University of California, San Francisco
Tobias Meyer, Stanford University
James Nelson, Stanford University
David Odde, University of Minnesota
Rob Phillips, California Institute of Technology
Steve Ross, Nikon Instruments
Kurt Thorn, University of California, San Francisco
2010 Scholars
Benny Geiger, Weizmann Institute
Peter Walter, University of California, San Francisco
Julie Theriot, Stanford University
MBLWHOI Library
Biological Bulletin
Marine Organisms
Meetings, Seminars, Events
Research/Administrative Services
Publications, Databases