Contact Us
Address: 11021 Campus St.
Loma Linda CA 92350

Phone: (909) 558-4480
Fax: (909) 558-4035


Administration Roger Hadley
Dean

Penelope Duerksen-Hughes

Associate Dean of Basic Sciences Faculty and Translational Research

School of Medicine
BASIC SCIENCES

Welcome to the School of Medicine basic sciences web site. In addition to teaching medical and dental students basic science knowledge that is clinically applicable, School of Medicine faculty members perform research to improve our knowledge of human disease and work to develop cures. This web site provides information about the basic science graduate training programs, ongoing research activities and individual student experiences within the Integrated Biomedical Research Program.

Recognizing the need to integrate diverse disciples to solve the biomedical problems of the future, graduate students study an integrated curriculum in their first year, which focuses on research methods and clinical connections. Students then pursue focused work towards a doctoral or master’s degree in anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, pharmacology, or physiology. A combined degree program that enables students to earn both the PhD and the MD degree is also available.

Areas of research emphasis at Loma Linda University include perinatal biology, neuroscience research, and cancer. Researchers in the Center for Perinatal Biology focus on the causes and/or consequences of oxygen deprivation in the developing fetus and during the birth process, and researchers within the Center for Health Disparities and Molecular Medicine focuses on the biological contributors to health disparities. Neuroscience researchers are studying the mechanisms of brain damage cause by different types of stroke and physical trauma to the brain as well as methods to minimize the extent of damage. Other basic science researchers are focused on the battle against cancer working to understand the mechanism of cancer formation, developing drugs to kill cancer, and learning what is required to selectively kill a cancer cell. Loma Linda University also houses the IMSD (Institute for Maximizing Student Diversity) training program.