Update on the Vagelos Institute’s PhD Pathway

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to inform you that VP&S’ new doctoral program in Biomedical Life Sciences (BLS) has been formally approved by the New York State Education Department. Together, the programs in BLS, Biomedical Informatics (BMI), and Neurobiology and Behavior (NB&B) form the academic cornerstone of the Vagelos Institute’s Biomedical Research Education (VIBRE) PhD Pathway, made possible by the landmark 2023 gift from Roy and Diana Vagelos. The VIBRE PhD Pathway will launch this fall and will welcome the first cohort in Fall of 2026.

Developed with the support of Dean Katrina Armstrong and VP&S leadership, the launch of BLS and the VIBRE PhD Pathway helps advance the VP&S Strategic Plan’s goals, specifically our priorities to optimize learner experience, to create new pathways to biomedical careers, and to drive innovative discovery. This significant milestone in the future of our biomedical graduate education is the product of a multi-year, faculty-led, and student-informed effort. Unified by a shared, centralized infrastructure for mentoring, professional development, and career preparation, VIBRE will provide a flexible curricular framework that sparks scientific curiosity, fosters cross-disciplinary exploration, and guides students from their first semester through their career journey. Additional information regarding the VIBRE PhD Pathway will be shared in the months ahead. 

The BLS program will consist of ten inter-departmental, in some cases, inter-school, tracks developed in partnership with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Between BLS, BMI, and NB&B, every scientific area from the prior programs is fully represented—some renamed and, in certain cases, integrated, to reduce redundancies. BLS will unite several concentrations while preserving the depth of specialized study within each domain. These changes will not affect current students, who can continue under their existing program structures. In the coming weeks, we will host forums for students and faculty to introduce BLS and the VIBRE PhD Pathway and to answer questions.

The ten PhD tracks within the BLS PhD Program are:

• Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology
• Cancer Biology
• Cell and Molecular Biology
• Computational Biology
• Disease and Therapeutics
• Genetics
• Immunobiology and Microbial Sciences
• Metabolism and Nutrient Biology
• Stem Cell Biology
• Systems Biology

We are deeply grateful to the faculty, students, and staff who contributed to this effort, especially the VIBRE leadership team and staff, directors of graduate studies, and members of the VIBRE Implementation Committee and Working Groups, whose commitment and vision were essential in shaping this transformation. We are equally indebted to the generosity of Roy and Diana Vagelos. With the VIBRE PhD Pathway, Columbia is poised to redefine graduate education—preparing the next generation of scientific innovators whose discoveries will expand our understanding of the world and transform human health.

Warm regards,

Hashim Al-Hashimi, PhD 

Associate Dean for Biomedical Graduate Education