The Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology at UTSA offers undergraduate and graduate students research opportunities in two principal areas: Cell and Molecular Biology and Neuroscience. The Department also encourages collaborations among different research groups, across campus, and with other institutions.
The Department is committed to conducting advanced research to increase the fundamental knowledge base, to train the next generation of biologists for industrial/academic careers as well as scientifically literate citizens, and to assist in educational, technological, and economic outreach to San Antonio and South Texas.
Cell and Molecular Biology
Knowing the components of cells and how cells work is fundamental to all biological sciences. The similarities and differences between cell types is particularly important in biomedical fields like cancer research and developmental biology. Understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interactions between the different types of DNA, RNA, and protein biosynthesis and how these interactions are regulated forms the basis of molecular biology research. Cell and molecular biology research is closely related to biochemistry, developmental biology, genetics, and immunology.
Students doing research with faculty can work in labs dealing with bioinformatics and computational biology, cancer biology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, and stem cell research
Neuroscience
Neuroscientists study how the nervous system is structured, how it works, how it develops, how it malfunctions, and how it can be changed. Our mission is to foster a collaborative community of scientists committed to studying the biological basis of human experience and behavior, and the origin and treatment of nervous system diseases. Areas of research emphasis include motivation, reward, and addiction, electrical signaling, computational neuroscience, language and auditory processing, neurodegeneration, CNS patterning and cell fate, and learning and memory.
