MD/PhD Program

College

  • Center City Campus
  • Sidney Kimmel Medical College

Degree Earned

  • Doctorate

Program Length

8 years

Program Type

  • On Campus

Prerequisites

Baccalaureate degree 
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Leadership

Name: Scott A. Waldman, MD, PhD, FCP
Position: Director, MD/PhD Program

1020 Locust Street
Jefferson Alumni Hall, 368
Philadelphia, PA 19107-5244

Contact Number(s):

Leadership

Name: Manuel Covarrubias, MD, PhD
Position: Director, MD/PhD Program

233 South 10th Street
Bluemle Life Sciences Building, 221A
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Contact Number(s):

Program Information

Name: Danielle Park
Position: Administrative Director
Contact Number(s):

Faculty & Staff

Administration

Scott A. Waldman MD, PhD, FCP

Dr. Scott Waldman, the MD/PhD Program Director, is the Hilary Koprowski Professors in Cancer Biology and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. His research focuses on GCC, demonstrating the importance of this receptor as a novel tumor suppressor central to the induction of colorectal cancer, and the translation of those observations to patient care.  Indeed, he is the PI of NCI multi-institutional clinical trials examining the utility of GCC as a molecular marker for managing patients with, and as a target for the prevention of, colorectal cancer.  Projects in his laboratory examine the translation of GCC biology into approaches to image colorectal tumors, prevent neoplastic transformation in intestine, and paradigms for vaccine development for patients with colorectal cancer.  His research combines both basic and clinical investigation and serves as an exemplar of translational research. Dr. Waldman’s office is 368J Jefferson Alumni Hall (JAH)

Scott.Waldman@jefferson.edu  |  215-955-6086

Manuel Covarrubias, MD, PhD

Dr. Manuel Covarrubias, the MD/PhD Program Co-director, is Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and member of the Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience. Dr. Covarrubias’ major research interests concern two areas: 1) molecular mechanisms underlying pain sensitization induced by spinal cord injury; and 2) molecular mechanisms of general anesthesia. In the first area, his laboratory has identified a specific potassium channel as a major regulator of excitability in the peripheral pain pathway. This finding is the basis of efforts to investigate novel therapeutic targets to treat neuropathic pain. In the second area, his team has discovered sites of general anesthetic action in voltage-gated ion channels that govern the brain’s electrical activity. Further work in this area will promote the development of more effective and less toxic general anesthetics. Dr. Covarrubias collaborates with researchers from major universities in Philadelphia as well as universities and companies overseas. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health for more than 20 years. Dr. Covarrubias' office is 231 Bluemle Life Sciences Building. (BLSB).

Manuel.Covarrubias@jefferson.edu  |  215-503-4341

Danielle Park

Danielle Park is the MD/PhD Administrative Director.  Her office is 1020 Locust Street, M-46 Jefferson Alumni Hall (JAH). Danielle can be reached by phone at (215) 503-0164 and by email at Danielle.Park@jefferson.edu

Administrative oversight for the Program is provided by the MD/PhD Steering Committee, chaired by Dr. Gerald Grunwald, Dean of the Jefferson College of Life Sciences and Professor of Pathology, Anatomy & Cell Biology, and is composed of faculty involved in the scientific and/or clinical training of MD/PhD students.  There are also two student representatives to this committee, elected officers of the Jefferson Physician Scientist Association.

Danielle.Park@jefferson.edu  |  215-503-0164

Program Faculty

Clicking on the faculty member's name will take you to their Profile page for more information regarding their area of research.

Andrew E. Aplin, PhD
Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology

Mutant B-RAF and integrin signaling in melanoma

Karen Bussard, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology


Bruno Calabretta, MD, PhD
Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology
Molecular Biology and Gene Regulation

Molecular mechanisms of normal hematopoiesis and BCR/ABL-dependent leukemogenesis

Manuel L. Covarrubias, MD, PhD
Professor, Neuroscience

Function, structure and pharmacology of voltage-gated ion channels in excitable tissues

Christine Eischen, PhD
Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology

Identification and study of genes that regulate cellular transformation and tumor development.

Andrzej Fertala, PhD
Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery

Heritable diseases of connective tissues

Lawrence Goldfinger, PhD
Associate Professor, Medicine

Elda Grabocka, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology

Aaron Haeusler, PhD
Associate Professor, Neuroscience

Chang-Gyu Hahn, MD, PhD
Professor, Psychiatry

Gyorgy Hajnoczky, MD, PhD
Raphael Rubin, MD Professor
Director of The Mitochondrial Research Center

Signaling, calcium, ER, mitochondria, metabolism, apoptosis, imaging

Lorraine Iacovitti, PhD
Professor, Neuroscience

Stem cells to study and treat Parkinson's disease; Neuroprotective agents to treat Parkinson's Disease; Stem cells to treat stroke; Sites of adult stem cells in brain

Botond Igyártó, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology & Immunology

Renato V. Iozzo, MD
Professor, Pathology & Genomic Medicine

Proteoglycan control of cancer growth and angiogenesis; Tumor microenvironment and regulation of receptor tyrosine kinases by matrix molecules

Felix Kim, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology

Basic and translational research focused on investigating the role of Sigma1 (also known as sigma-1 receptor) in tumor metabolism, modulation of the tumor microenvironment, and discovering and developing novel Sigma1 targeted therapeutic agents and approaches to treating advanced prostate cancer. 

Kyunghee Koh, PhD
Professor, Neuroscience


Lucia Languino, PhD
Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology

Integrin signaling in cancer progression

Angelo Lepore, PhD
Professor, Neuroscience

In vivo role played by astrocyte glutamate transporters in the etiology and treatment of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI)

Le Ma, PhD
Professor, Neuroscience

Neural networks; molecular pathways involved in branching; cell biological regulation of branching; contribution of branching to circuit function and repair

Peisong Ma, PhD
Assistant Professor, Medicine

Silva Markovic-Plese, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Neurology



Alexander Mazo, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Epigenetic function of Drosophila ortholog of the MLL oncogene

Steven B. McMahon, PhD
Professor and Chair, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Deregulation of the p53 and MYC transcription networks drivi

A. Sue Menko, PhD
Professor, Pathology & Genomic Medicine

Signaling mediating acquisition of the differentiated cell phenotype; Cell adhesion and the cytoskeleton in regulating tissue morphogenesis, regeneration, and fibrosis

Diane E. Merry, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Molecular determinants of androgen receptor metabolism and of polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor misfolding and aggregation

Sara Meyer, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology

Timothy Mosca, PhD
Associate Professor, Neuroscience

Molecular mechanisms and the organizational logic of how synapses are constructed; deciphering the genes involved in synapse formation and composition  

Fabienne M. Paumet, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology & Immunology

Role of phagocytosis in the pathogenesis of infectious diseases; Role of phagocytosis in mast cell function in allergy

Raymond B. Penn, PhD
Professor, Medicine

Identification of cellular and molecular mechanisms by which G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) mediate important functions in airway cells and in the lung

Nancy J. Philp, PhD
Professor, Pathology & Genomic Medicine

Monocarboxylate transporters; CD 147; retinal pigment epithelium; retinal metabolism; glycolysis, and JAM-C

Isidore Rigoutsos, PhD
Professor, Pathology & Genomic Medicine, Director, Center for Computational Medicine

Computational medicine; microRNAs; tRNAs; piRNAs; post-transcriptional regulatory processes; diagnostics; therapeutics; genomics; big data; pattern/motif discovery; high performance computing; microbial genomics; metagenomics

Makarand V. Risbud, PhD
Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery

Intervertebral disc biology; Hypoxic tissue niches; Stem cell biology; Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

Abdolmohamad Rostami, MD, PhD
Professor and Chair, Neurology

Helper T cell subsets and their cytokines in the pathogenesis of autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and multiple sclerosis; Effect of Bowman-Birk serine protease inhibitor on course of EAE; Mechanisms of intravenous tolerance in EAE; Effects of interleukin-27 (IL-27) on human auto-aggressive T cells.

Matthias J. Schnell, PhD
Professor and Chair, Microbiology & Immunology
Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Development of novel vaccines and viral pathogenesis

Daniel P. Silver, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Medical Oncology

Breast Cancer; Triple Negative Breast Cancer; Inflammatory Cancer; Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome; Atypical Hyperplasia (ADH, ALH); Lobular Carcinoma in Situ (LCIS); DNA Repair Defects

Richard Smeyne, PhD
Professor and Chair, Neuroscience

Cell biology of Parkinson’s Disease

Christopher Snyder, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology & Immunology

Viral immunology: maintenance of adaptive immunity during chronic infections; T cell responses elicited by cytomegalovirus infection; activation of T cell effector functions by innate signals

Ross Summer, MD
Professor, Medicine, Pulmonary & Critical Care

Dr Summer's laboratory focuses on lung metabolism and understanding how local and systemic metabolic derangements contribute to the onset and progression of lung diseases.

Yuri K. Sykulev, MD, PhD
Professor, Microbiology & Immunology

Molecular mechanisms regulating cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity

Ryan Tomlinson, PhD
Associate Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery


Davide Trotti, PhD
Professor, Neuroscience

Mechanisms of neurodegeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Rajanikanth Vadigepalli, PhD
Professor, Pathology & Genomic Medicine


Scott A. Waldman, MD, PhD
Professor and Chair, Pharmacology, Physiology & Cancer Biology

Tumor suppressors and their signaling pathways in GI malignancies; Targeted diagnostics and therapeutics in cancer

Philip B. Wedegaertner, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Heterotrimeric G protein regulation of intracellular trafficking; Role of RhoGEFs in mitosis

Edward Winter, PhD
Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Mechanisms that regulate meiotic development using the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as a model system

Hushan Yang, PhD
Professor, Medical Oncology

Cancer biomarker; Cancer genomics; Liquid biopsy; Racial disparity; Statistical modelling