In 1963, the 58th Session of the Texas Legislature authorized the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System to establish a Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at UTHealth Houston. The creation of the GSBS, with the approval of the Texas Commission of Higher Education, included the following general charge:

“The GSBS will conduct graduate programs at the masters and doctoral levels and postdoctoral programs in the sciences and related academic areas pertinent to medical education and research.”

The GSBS is an important academic bridge between UTHealth Houston components and the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. The GSBS is linked to the intellectual resources of the thousands of faculty associated with MD Anderson Cancer Center and UTHealth Houston Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Public Health, Nursing, and Biomedical Informatics.

From its beginning, the GSBS adopted an interdisciplinary approach to biomedical sciences education in contrast to more traditional departmentalized models focused on particular disciplines. The graduate programs offer areas of concentration at the leading edge of education in the biomedical sciences. As a result, the GSBS has attracted large numbers of outstanding faculty and students. The GSBS faculty has grown to over 600 members, and currently there are about 400 degree-seeking students. Students frequently conduct their research in newly developing interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary areas in basic and translational research.

The challenge to health sciences universities in the 21st century is to integrate the academic and clinical aspects of biomedical research in order to understand and prevent illness, promote health, and restore normal function. The GSBS is in a unique position to meet that challenge by capitalizing on its distinguished faculty and its contemporary approach to graduate biomedical education.

The GSBS is an integral and essential part of the academic activities not only of UTHealth Houston but also of MD Anderson Cancer Center. Together, MD Anderson and UTHealth Houston provide the supporting academic framework for the GSBS. The Texas Education Code stipulates that MD Anderson and UTHealth “...jointly prescribe courses and jointly conduct graduate programs at the masters and doctoral levels.” It is self-evident that graduate education in biomedical research is a key ingredient in the development of increased institutional excellence and is essential to the maintenance of national research excellence. Similarly, the GSBS is absolutely dependent upon UTHealth Houston and MD Anderson because courses are taught by faculty members drawn from the two parent institutions, and because of the need for financial and administrative support. Thus, the relationship between UTHealth Houston and MD Anderson is fundamental and symbiotic.