UW Medicine Department of Pathology Graduate Program:

Molecular Basis of Disease

Experimental pathology is the discipline that most explicitly uses modern research techniques to address important problems in human disease.  The Pathology Ph.D. program in the Molecular Basis of Disease is devoted to the training of practicing biomedical scientists: individuals who can use the scientific method to ask and answer testable questions about significant biomedical problems. The program emphasizes research skills and the and the intellectual skills needed to formulate hypotheses and critically evaluate research data and conclusions.

Pathology as a Field and Discipline

  • The field is at the intersection of clinical medicine and basic biomedical science.
  • Pathology encompasses all of medicine and experimental biology.
  • It plays a key role in disease recognition and diagnosis.
  • Aims to apply new knowledge and tools from the basic sciences to disease analysis and the understanding of disease mechanisms.
  • Longterm goals are: To improve disease recognition, understand disease causation and pathogenesis, and to identify new treatments or preventions.

 The Department

  • The department was founded in 1946 with the aim of developing and applying new tools to the analysis of human disease.
  • It is the top NIH-funded Pathology Department in the US with a distinguished faculty of over 80 members providing training in clinical and experimental pathology.
  • UW and Affiliated Hospitals and Research Institutions make Seattle a world center for human disease diagnosis, research, and training.

The UW Pathology PhD Training Program

  • PhD Training Program in Pathology was established in 1960.
  • Focus on disease and disease mechanism research.
  • Rigorous graduate research training with state-of-the-art labs, equipment, and technology.
  • Numerous collaborative and clinical research opportunities.
  • Flexibility to accommodate novel training pathways.

What you can do with a Pathology PhD

  • PhD Program graduates are faculty members and staff scientists in leading academic centers, universities, and research institutes worldwide.
  • There is continued strong industry hiring of PhD scientists familiar with and focused on human disease research.
  • PhD offers a wide range of employment opportunities guarantees choice of a range of careers in the most exciting areas of modern biomedical science.







Contact Information
Steve Berard, Communications and Graduate Program Manager
UW Medicine Department of Pathology
Health Sciences Center, Rm. C-516
Box 357470
Seattle, WA 98195-7470
(206) 685-0564 FAX: (206) 543-3644
Email: sberard@u.washington.edu