Centers and Facilities
The Department maintains a dynamic program that emphasizes biomedical research in heart disease, neurological disease, environmental health, and cancer. Two federally-funded research centers within the Department, the Center for Environmental Health Sciences (CEHS) and the Center for Structural and Functional Neuroscience (CSFN) provide unique opportunities for graduate study and research with nationally competitive investigators. The College of Health Professions & Biomedical Sciences receives more than $14 million annually in federal research funding, and currently is ranked 7th in total funding among all U.S. Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy.
The Department has cooperative research and training programs with the Rocky Mountain National Laboratories of the NIH, The International Heart Institute of Montana, the Montana Neuroscience Institute, and the Montana Cancer Institute. Students work closely with faculty both in the classroom and in the laboratory. The program is interdisciplinary, and students have the opportunity to interact with faculty from other campus departments and programs.
Research Centers: Seven research centers affiliated with the Department combine basic and clinical research to provide extended opportunities for graduate student research.
- The Center for Environmental Health Sciences (CEHS) seeks to advance our knowledge of environmental impacts on human health.
- The Center for Structural and Functional Neuroscience (CFSN) interfaces chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, and molecular biology to advance our understanding of protein structure and function in the central nervous system.
- The Center for Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics (BSD) emphasizes mechanistic biology of molecular topics such as nucleic acid-protein interactions, neurotransmitter transport, protein structure, and viral RNA dynamics.
- Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) in Hamilton, Montana, is part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). RML is a state-of-the-art research facility staffed by world-class scientists with a mission to study infectious microbes that cause disease in humans and animals.
- The Montana Neuroscience Institute Foundation is a collaborative effort between The University of Montana and the St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center to promote research, education, and clinical advances in the treatment of neurological disorders.
- The International Heart Institute of Montana Foundation is a cooperative effort between The University of Montana and the St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center that focuses on novel treatments for heart valve disease.
- The Montana Cancer Institute conducts basic, applied and clinical research in cancer and to foster the provision of full-continuum, high quality patient care through training and educational efforts.
- National Institutes of Health, Graduate Partnerships Program (NIH-GPP) links the (NIH) to national and international universities in the training of graduate students. You get the best of both worlds – the academic environment of a university and the breadth and depth of research at the NIH.
Research Facilities: The Department maintains over 20 modern research laboratories, some in a newly constructed addition to the Skaggs building. Graduate students also have access to individual core laboratories.
Core facilities include:
- Animal Care Facility
- Core Centrifuge Facility
- Confocal Microscopy and Image Analysis Laboratory
- Laser Scanning Cytometry Facility
- Liquid Chromatography Facility
- Mass Spectral Analysis Laboratory
- Molecular Biology Core Facility
- Molecular Histology Laboratory
- Molecular Computation Core Facility
- Poster and Slide Making Facility
- Tissue Culture Laboratory
Additional campus facilities include:
- The Montana Biotechnology Center
- Murdock Molecular Biology Facility
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory
Additional graduate training sites include:
- State of Montana Crime Lab - Missoula
- McLaughlin Research Institute - Great Falls