The mission of the Department of Biomedical Sciences is to be "a community of scholars who educate future physicians and scientists and who advance knowledge through discovery. " As a diverse basic science department, we provide a broad foundation for an integrated medical education in the first 2 years of medical school before the students begin their clinical practices. In addition to the role that the Department of Biomedical Sciences plays in education of medical students, we offer a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences that trains scientists in contemporary approaches to address questions of developmental, cell, and molecular biology related to human health and an M.S. program that serves as a Bridge to the M.D. Our faculty also participates in 2 interdisciplinary graduate programs on FSU campus: Program in Neuroscience and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Program.