 |
|
 |
|
|
Welcome to the Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto. Within these pages, you will find information describing the Department in general and its history, along with profiles of the Faculty. There is also guidance on applying to our Department for graduate studies or for the undergraduate summer program. Please contact the office with any further questions you may have. Background The Department of Medical Biophysics offers a graduate program in interdisciplinary research in physics and biology, leading to the degrees of M.Sc. and Ph.D. The program was founded in 1958 under the direction of Harold Johns. The new interdisciplinary research model upon which the Department was based played a major role in defining biophysics world-wide. The goal of the program originally was to train graduate students in cancer research, but this has been broadened in recent years to include other areas of biomedical science. The initial faculty members in the Department, originally housed solely in the Princess Margaret Hospital, were staff scientists at the Ontario Cancer Institute, and the Department was founded to provide an academic home for these scientists and their graduate students. Thus, the Department of Medical Biophysics is unusual in that almost all its Faculty are Research Institute scientists, not tenured University academics. As such, the Department is involved only in graduate training and research without an undergraduate program. The name for the Department describes its character: Medical because it deals with medical research and is part of the Faculty of Medicine, and Biophysics because it encompasses research and graduate training in both biology and physics. The Ontario Cancer Institute/Princess Margaret Hospital (OCI/PMH) was established in 1957 to specialize in the use of radiation to treat cancer patients. It originally included two research divisions, one in physics to develop methods for delivering radiation treatments to patients and measure the dose they received, and one in biological research to study the biological basis of cancer. Presently it is composed of six research divisions (Applied Molecular Oncology; Biophysics and Bioimaging; Cancer Genomics and Proteomics; Epidemiology, Statistics and Behavioural Research; Stem Cell and Developmental Biology; Signaling Biology). It was then and still is one of the largest cancer research and treatment facilities in North America. OCI/PMH is now incorporated into the University Health Network (UHN). The Department of Medical Biophysics has expanded and evolved considerably since it was founded. The major development has been the movement of the Imaging Group, part of the Medical Physics Division, to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (SHSC) in 1990. Imaging plays a major role in diagnosis, and virtually all the researchers in Toronto actively involved in imaging, located both at Sunnybrook and downtown, are members of Medical Biophysics. The Imaging group was quickly supplemented by a small but active Cancer Biology group at Sunnybrook. This has now broadened into a Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, and includes about half of the Medical Biophysics faculty at SHSC. The second largest group of Medical Biophysics faculty and students is located at Sunnybrook. There are also Department faculty located at other research institutes in Toronto and on the St. George campus of the University. Until 1982 there was only a single academic stream in the Department, encompassing both physics and biology, with a common curriculum. However, it was recognized that students needed to specialize, and separate Cellular and Molecular Biology and Medical Physics streams were introduced with separate courses. However, in keeping with the culture of the Department, Medical Physics students are required to take an introduction into Cell Biology, and vice versa. A further development was the addition of Molecular and Structural Biology as a stream in 1995. At the present time the program offers these three streams of study. Collaborative Programs In order to take advantage of the many benefits of the research community at the University of Toronto, the Department is supportive of collaborative programs in research areas of interest to faculty and students. MBP participates in collaborative graduate programs in:
In addition to joint courses, most collaborative programs feature mechanisms of interaction, such as seminar series, retreats and poster days. Objectives Recognizing the broad and interdisciplinary nature of modern medical research, the major objective of the program is to train students from a variety of backgrounds to be successful independent investigators in biomedical science. This is done by in-depth study of a particular research topic with emphasis on quantitative and interdisciplinary approaches. The program is designed to expose students to research in complementary fields and to develop skills in oral and written communication. At both the M.Sc. and Ph.D. level this is accomplished through course work, independent research, the Student Seminar Series, and a thesis. As the primary goal is the training of independent researchers, it is expected that the majority of M.Sc. students will either transfer into the Ph.D. program or enter it after graduation, and that the majority of Ph.D. graduates will have careers in academia. Over the last five years, approximately 65% of our M.Sc. graduates enroll in the Ph.D. program with the remainder finding employment in industry or the government. Immediately after graduation, 74% of our Ph.D. students accepted academic positions (either permanent research and teaching positions or postdoctoral training positions). Our graduates hold many of the most prominent and influential research and administrative posts throughout Canada. Peter Burns Professor and Chair |
| Last Updated: August 10, 2010 | All contents Copyright © 1995 - 2010, Department of Medical Biophysics. All Rights Reserved. |
