Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics earns national accreditation

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics program has been awarded a prestigious national accreditation by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB). UW-Parkside is just the second college or university in Wisconsin to earn ASBMB accreditation, and joins an elite group of approximately 70 schools nationwide.

ASBMB accreditation recognizes UW-Parkside’s program – part of the university’s Biological Sciences Department – for its strong faculty that practice active scholarship and research, its institutional commitment to a diverse student population in STEM fields, and its extensive coverage of Information Storage concepts at introductory and advanced levels. ASBMB requires that students have at least 400 hours of required laboratory/research experience. Students in the UW-Parkside molecular biology and bioinformatics program actually end up graduating with more than 700 hours of required laboratory and research experience.

UW-Parkside’s molecular biology and bioinformatics program requires that all students in the degree program conduct independent research for at least two semesters. This requirement of conducting a molecular biology or bioinformatics research project with a faculty member allows students to experience what real research is like in this field.

Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and Chair of the Molecular Biology Programs Committee Dr. Traci Lee stated, “Since we (members of the Molecular Biology Programs Committee) felt that the molecular biology and bioinformatics degree program easily met the criteria for ASBMB accreditation, it just made sense for us to apply.”

ASBMB accreditation is valid for seven years, beginning Oct. 14, 2017, when the UW-Parkside application was submitted.