Much of the recent explosion in new knowledge about normal biological functions and disease is rooted in laboratory discoveries. Contributions to our understanding of human diseases, including cancer, have come from many disciplines — genetics, cell biology, structural biology, immunology, and developmental biology, among others.

There are enormous prospects for designing new medical interventions using the tools of modern cell and molecular biology. Regardless of the disease being studied, the scientific steps are the same: understand the disease process at the cellular level; identify the genes involved and their protein products; and focus on targeting these molecules to prevent or reverse the disease with new drugs, vaccines, or other approaches.

We are only at the beginning of this journey. To be able to fully harness new scientific knowledge and translate it from the lab into clinical practice, we need to train the next generation of scientists who are passionate about tackling problems in human disease through biomedical research.

Our Mission

The mission of GSK is to advance the frontiers of knowledge by providing to gifted and creative students in an interactive, innovative, and collegial environment the education and training they need to make new discoveries in the biological sciences.

Training the Next Generation of Science Leaders

The Gerstner Sloan Kettering graduate school offers a unique curriculum that integrates Memorial Sloan Kettering’s basic science and clinical arms to maximize the potential of future basic scientists to improve human health.

The core of our curriculum is a single, integrated course that takes students from genes and proteins to human pathophysiology. Additional aspects of our curriculum include:

• laboratory rotations
• observation in Memorial Sloan Kettering clinics
• partnering with a clinical mentor
• exposure to cutting-edge science through interactions with Memorial Sloan Kettering faculty and visiting investigators
• dissertation research

Special emphasis is placed on:

• developing a self-reliant approach to assimilating scientific knowledge
• building skills in critical analysis and logic as applied to scientific reasoning
• integration of basic science knowledge with human disease physiology information

Students are also immersed in the flow of modern research by meeting each week with speakers from the President’s Research Seminar Series, which brings distinguished scientists to Memorial Sloan Kettering to discuss their work and their thoughts on the challenges for the future.

After completing the didactic portion of their education in the first year, our students focus full time on thesis research at the beginning of the second year.