Students receiving the special designation of cellular and molecular physiology will focus their training on advanced methods necessary to examine physiological and pathophysiological processes. This training will provide students with an understanding of integrative biological approaches to the analysis of various disease processes. Research in cellular and molecular physiology and cell biology is geared towards understanding the mechanisms that contribute to cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurological and other organ and systems related diseases. The mechanisms that control physiology can be studied at many levels of complexity ranging from single molecule interactions to social and environmental pressures. As a highly integrated science, physiology uses techniques and ideas from chemistry, mathematics, physics and biology to synthesize, describe and elucidate the fundamental workings of the body. Animal and cellular models are commonly used to investigate human diseases and their progression. In discovering how the cell, organ and body functions, we can identify specific molecular targets required for the development of therapies to treat different human diseases. The cellular and molecular physiology faculty and students participate in research programs conducted in the Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, the Aging Research Center, the Neuroscience Research Center, the Reye's Syndrome Research Center, the Diabetes and Metabolism Research Center, the Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute.