Four new life sciences departments showcase USC Dornsife’s strengths in biology
Key points:
USC Dornsife has established four new departments from former sections of Biological Sciences: Human and Evolutionary Biology, Marine and Environmental Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, and Neurobiology.
Departmental status gives each a clearer identity and greater visibility among prospective graduate students and faculty, collaborators and research funders.
The Biological Sciences undergraduate major remains interdepartmental and spans the four new departments.
At the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, biologists study life at vastly different scales. Some focus on molecules and cells, others on the brain, human evolution or the organisms that shape marine ecosystems.
To give four longstanding areas of expertise greater visibility in research and graduate education, USC Dornsife has elevated them from sections within Biological Sciences to departments: Human and Evolutionary Biology, Marine and Environmental Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, and Neurobiology.
The new departments join Psychology and Quantitative and Computational Biology in the Life Sciences division, reflecting the breadth of modern life sciences research, from genes and cells to ecosystems and human behavior, including the increasingly important role of computation and data in biology.
“Biology is not a single discipline,” said Ian Ehrenreich, divisional dean for life sciences at USC Dornsife. “What once made sense as four sections within one department no longer reflects how these academic units and their research fields operate today. They have their own questions, methods and ways of doing science, and now our academic structure reflects that.”
Ehrenreich said the new departmental status will also enhance the visibility of each field to prospective graduate students and faculty, collaborators, research funders and peer institutions.
The change does not affect the Biological Sciences undergraduate major, which remains interdepartmental and spans the four new departments. Human and Evolutionary Biology and Neurobiology also offer their own undergraduate majors in human biology and neuroscience, respectively.
“The strength of USC Dornsife’s biological sciences comes from our extraordinary faculty and students,” said Dean James Bullock. “Creating these departments not only gives their research greater visibility, it positions each department for even greater impact in the years ahead.”
Four new departments, four distinct fields
Marine and Environmental Biology
Chair: Naomi Levine
Scholars study organisms, particularly marine life, and the ecosystems they form. Research spans microbial ecology, conservation, organismal biology and biogeochemistry, with particular strength in microbial ecosystems and marine conservation. Its work ranges from the role of microscopic organisms in ocean systems to the effects of environmental change on coral reefs and other marine life.
Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
Chair: Matt Dean
Scholars examine how life works at the molecular and cellular levels, from the interactions that build cells to the processes that shape organisms and biological diversity. Faculty research includes chromosome behavior, genome structure, aging, development, microbial science and RNA, using approaches that draw on genetics, biochemistry, bioinformatics, synthetic biology and advanced microscopy.
Neurobiology
Chair: Judith Hirsch
Scholars study the nervous system from individual neurons and their connections to networks spanning the brain. Faculty investigate learning and memory, neural signaling, sensory processing, behavior, development, disease and repair, often collaborating with researchers in molecular biology, computation, chemistry, physics and engineering.
Human and Evolutionary Biology
Chair: Lorraine Turcotte
Scholars study humans as biological organisms shaped by evolution and natural selection. Faculty examine how physiology, anatomy, development, environment and behavior have shaped the species and how that history can inform human health today, with research spanning appetite and metabolism, biomechanics, human performance, mitochondrial biology and primate behavior.
Although the new departments represent distinct fields, their research often intersects. Genes influence brains and behavior, environmental change affects organisms from the cellular level to entire ecosystems, and evolution shapes biological systems at every scale. The new structure gives each field a clearer identity while supporting cross-departmental collaboration in research and education.