Policies

There are several overlapping sets of policies governing graduate students in the Biological Sciences Division, including those from university, divisional, and program-specific sources. On this page you will find general University information about graduate student policies, including information about the Office of Research Safety. Information specifically for BSD students requires a CNet login. Use the tabs at left to navigate this section.

1941

Charles B. Huggins: introduced hormonal treatment of cancer

In 1941, cancer researcher Charles B. Huggins treated patients suffering from advanced prostate cancer by removing the hormone the cancers needed to grow. Hormonal treatment has since become a mainstay of care for several types of cancer, including breast and gynecological cancers.

Nobel laureate Charles B. Huggins, the William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor in Surgery, working in his laboratory

1916

Ernest Everett Just: discovered significant aspect of cell cleavage

Ernest Everett Just, PhD 1916, worked with University of Chicago zoologist Frank Lillie at what is now the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. During dissertation research for his PhD in zoology, he made an important discovery about cell cleavage, showing that the sperm entry point determines the first cleavage plane in the egg of the marine annelid Nereis limbata.

2004

Cathryn Nagler: discovered links between intestinal bacteria and immunology

In 2004 Cathryn Nagler, the Bunning Family Professor in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the Department of Pathology, was one of the first scientists to discover the link between intestinal bacteria and immunology. In 2014, Nagler discovered that Clostridia, a class of gut bacteria, protects against food allergies. Her research group is now working to find a treatment for food allergies via a microbiome-based treatment.

2000

Zeresenay Alemseged: discovered most complete ancient hominin skeleton

In Dkikika Ethiopia in 2000, paleoanthropologist Zeresenay Alemseged, Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, discovered "Selam," also referred to as "Lucy's baby." No other hominin skeleton of such antiquity is as complete as this one. Moreover, as the earliest juvenile hominin ever found, the Dikika child provides an unprecedented opportunity to study growth processes in our ancient relatives.

1910

Howard Ricketts: identified the cause of Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Pathologist Howard Ricketts discovered the organism that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever before his death in 1910, providing the basis for treating the disease. Today the Howard T. Ricketts Laboratory at Argonne National Laboratory is a regional biocontainment laboratory that supports research for the detection, prevention, and elimination of anthrax, hemorrhagic fever, influenza, plague, and emerging infectious diseases.