Plans for an Institute of Biosciences and Technology at the Texas Medical Center in Houston were developed by the leadership at Texas A&M University. The concept was endorsed in 1986 by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, and on Jan. 1, 1999, IBT became a member of the Texas A&M Health Science Center.

Mission

The Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and Technology is committed to improving the quality of healthcare through education and advanced and innovative molecular research in bioscience and medicine.

Director

Cheryl Lyn Walker, Ph.D., is the Director of the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and Technology, located in Houston in the Texas Medical Center. She also holds the endowed Welch Chair in Chemistry and a joint position as clinical professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University. Her most recent position was as the Ruth and Walter Sterling Professor of Carcinogenesis at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Walker has a Ph.D. in cell biology from The University of Texas Health Science Center (Southwestern Medical School) in Dallas. Her research covers the full scope of carcinogenesis and has resulted in an outstanding scientific reputation, noted by her 2010 Cozzarelli Prize for Biological Sciences from the National Academy of Sciences and the Dallas/Fort Worth Living Legend Achievement Award in Basic Research. She is a past-president of both the 6,000-member Society of Toxicology and the Women in Cancer Research of the American Association for Cancer Research. She was also elected a member of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences.

Research

The Institute of Biosciences and Technology conducts basic research divided into research centers, as follows:

Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Biology

Center for Environmental and Genetic Medicine

Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases

Center for Molecular Disease and Development

Program for Translational Cancer Research

IBT Brochure

Degrees Offered

Graduate and postdoctoral education is conducted at the Institute of Biosciences and Technology as part of the Texas A&M Health Science Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. IBT graduate students pursue a Ph.D. in the Medical Sciences program.

Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences

Faculty

The Institute of Biosciences and Technology currently has 15 faculty members. Most have joint academic appointments in departments at Texas A&M University or other components of the Texas A&M Health Science Center. IBT faculty members are also full members of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of Texas at Houston Health Science Center.

Faculty Links

• IBT Bylaws (PDF)
• Endowed Chairs & Professorships (PDF)

Affiliations

Most Institute of Bioscience and Technology faculty members have affiliations with departments in the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine of at Texas A&M University. Some also have adjunct appointments in departments at Baylor College of Medicine, The University of Texas at Houston Health Science Center and the UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.