About Us
Research at CMM
The Department of Cellular & Molecular Medicine (CMM) in the UC San Diego School of Medicine is one of two basic research departments in the UC San Diego School of Medicine. Our mission is to support and promote research and teaching in cell biology and related disciplines at UC San Diego and beyond. Our 30 faculty and over 350 postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and research staff work at the innovative heart of biology, cutting across fields from basic biochemistry and genetics to genomics, systems biology and stem cell biology. CMM is committed to providing a strong environment for graduate education (principally through the Biomedical Sciences and the Neurosciences Graduate Programs in the School of Medicine) and to delivering world-class postdoctoral training — our graduates and postdocs compete successfully for premier academic and industry positions, both within the San Diego area and worldwide.
George Palade, Founder
The Department was first established as an autonomous Division in the UC San Diego Medical School in 1990, and was departmentalized in 1999. CMM was founded by George Palade, a pioneer in cell biology and a Nobel laureate in Physiology and Medicine in 1974.
Research in San Diego
A core value at UC San Diego and in CMM in particular is collaboration. Here, diversity drives innovation. Our faculty collaborate with one another on a daily basis, as well as with world-class academic and industrial researchers throughout the San Diego area. These collaborations enable strong cross-disciplinary research not possible elsewhere.
"Long ago it became evident that the key to every biological problem must finally be sought in the cell; for every living organism is, or at some time has been, a cell."
— E.B. Wilson (1856–1939)