Dr. José R. Rodríguez Medina, Ph.D.
Chair
The graduate program in Biochemistry began in 1960 starting with the offering of Masters in Science (M.S.) and doctor in Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Biochemistry and Nutrition. The name of the department was changed in 1992 to Department of Biochemistry. The graduates of our program can be found throughout the industrial, academic and government environment in Puerto Rico, the U.S. mainland and in Latin America. The department faculty actively seeks external funds to support our graduate students and have been able to improve our research facilities with state of the art instrumentation.
The Department of Biochemistry characterizes itself by conducting research in the following areas: Molecular and Genetic Alterations in Disease, Biochemistry of Proteins, Protein Structure/Function Relationships, Biochemistry of Glycoconjugates and Cellular Differentiation, Interactions between Nutrition and Disease, Aging and Oxidative Stress, Ocular Biochemistry, Clinical Biochemistry, Analytical Biochemistry, Biochemical and Molecular Toxicology, Biochemical Pharmacology and Molecular Biology. Individual faculty members also participate as mentors in the Intercampus Ph.D. program in Biology.
The graduate student of the Department of Biochemistry should be able to practice his/her profession in a research, academic or industrial environment either in Puerto Rico or at the International level. It is expected that the graduate of the Biochemistry department contribute to the economic, social and cultural development of Puerto Rico. In order to achieve these goals the mission of the graduate program in Biochemistry is to prepare professionals with the fundamental and essential knowledge in the discipline of Biochemistry. In a wider context, the mission of the Biochemistry program is to prepare professionals that will practice their profession with the firm purpose to advance basic and applied knowledge in the field of Biochemistry, through their professional and scholarly activities contributing in solving the daily health related problems of our society which results in human benefit. It is expected that the biochemistry graduate practice their profession with the highest ethical principles, proper of the discipline they have chosen and that they set a solemn example for the future generations.