The Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology is one of 16 basic science and clinical departments of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Biochemistry is one of four partner programs in the Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) graduate program, which awards PhD degrees in Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, Genetics, and Microbiology & Immunology through the Division of Arts & Sciences at Dartmouth College. Currently there are over 160 graduate students in the MCB program.
Biochemistry & Cell Biology’s commitment to excellence in research, education, and service is an important part of our mission. Collegial and collaborative interactions among faculty, postdoctoral research associates and fellows, graduate students, Dartmouth undergraduate students and staff are integral to our culture. A general theme of our research is focused on defining molecular mechanisms that underlie fundamental cellular processes and yet our studies continue to provide key insights on atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes, neurotransmission, prion disease, kidney disease and a range of human health related issues.
Morgan Gilman, a fourth-year graduate student in the McLellan Lab at Geisel, is helping lead efforts to understand how a particular type of protein allows deadly viruses—such as Ebola and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus)—to gain entry into host cells, and how antibodies can be developed to neutralize that process. 
As a child in Zimbabwe, Tamutenda Chidawanyika saw many people afflicted by illness and unable to get the treatment they needed. Infectious diseases were widespread, she says; HIV, in particular, was rampant. “The country was economically and politically stable at the time, but nevertheless lots of people didn’t have access to health care, and seeing that fueled my desire to go into medicine.”