Tufts' Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences and the Jackson Laboratory (JAX) in Bar Harbor, Maine will this summer join forces for a new graduate program in mammalian genetics.
The track will allow students to divide their time between conducting research and taking courses at the Jackson Laboratory and completing regular study at the Sackler School's Boston campus.
JAX is an independent organization specializing in the use of mice as models to study mammalian genetics, program co-director and JAX senior research scientist Mary Ann Handel said. Researchers at the institution use the models to mimic human diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes, according to Handel.
The new program will offer researchers at Tufts and JAX the chance to combine strengths, according to Erik Selsing, co-director of the mammalian track program and director of the graduate program in genetics at the Sackler School.
"The benefit [of the program] is the linkage between faculty who know a lot about mouse genetics with faculty that know a lot about human disease," Selsing said.
"Students will be able to use mouse models, leverage them to study the mechanisms of diseases, and interrelate that to the treatment of human diseases and diagnostics for therapy," Handel said.
This will be the first dual-campus program offered by the Sackler School, Sackler School Dean Naomi Rosenberg said.
Graduate students enrolled in the track will spend July and August in Maine taking courses from JAX researchers and performing a lab rotation, Handel said. After dividing the academic year between Boston and Bar Harbor, students will decide by the year's end where to conduct their doctoral dissertation research.
A JAX mammalian genetics course will be available to all Sackler School students via videoconference, Handel said. Selsing added that Sackler School faculty will also incorporate topics pertaining to JAX research into their courses.
Rosenberg believes the new track's unique opportunities could increase potential student interest in the Sackler School.
"I think that it will bring additional recognition to the school, certainly, and I also think it's a novel approach to graduate learning," Rosenberg said.
The Sackler School is currently reviewing applications for its genetics program, and will release its decisions in mid-April, according to Selsing. He said several candidates have already expressed a specific interest in the mammalian genetics track.
"There are people who would not have applied but are because of the new opportunity," Selsing said.
The collaboration came to fruition after the idea had long been circulating among the two institutions, Handel said.
"The talk has been going on for about a decade. Maybe a year ago the tempo of the talk picked up," he said.
The Sackler School is now exploring the possibility of another collaboration with the Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Rosenberg said.
