The Environment
THE DEPARTMENT
We offer a dynamic graduate program in modern microbiology, virology, and immunology, one with exposure to a broad range of disciplines in the basic biomedical sciences - a program that prepares students for a career in research and teaching. You will be encouraged to work independently and creatively, to think critically, and to reach your full potential both professionally and personally. Department faculty are committed to developing strong mentoring relationships with graduate students. We will give you individual attention and guidance every step of the way.
Weekly department lab meetings provide a relaxed, highly interactive setting in which you can follow work being done in all of the various research labs in the department. The departmental lab meeting provides an enjoyable opportunity for you to stay in touch with a broad range of research areas beyond your own specific area of study. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to meet researchers from other research institutions through the country, and, in fact, the world, who are invited to the department to participate in our department's weekly seminar series. Each week, following the seminar, several students are selected to have lunch with the visiting researchers.
The Department includes 14 primary faculty members and 11 who have joint appointments with our department. All of these mentors are located at Loyola's Health Sciences Campus, about 10 miles west of downtown Chicago. The department research environment encompasses 12,500 square feet of contiguous space in the Center for Translational Research and Education (CTRE). Twelve of the fourteen faculty mentors' labs are located in contiguous space on the second floor of CTRE and one other mentor's lab is located on the third floor. The labs of all the joint-appointee mentors are located on campus in nearby buildings connected by a bridge to the CTRE building. This physical closeness facilitates collaborations and other scientific interactions.
Because the increasingly complex problems facing medical science today often require a multidisciplinary response, our department regularly collaborates with researchers from several disciplines, including biochemistry, cell biology, and neuroanatomy. In addition, we are active in the Molecular Biology (one of our major research areas), Cancer Biology, and Neuroscience programs. These interdisciplinary programs draw their faculty and students from all of the basic medical science departments and provide a link to other research programs at Stritch.
THE HEALTH SCIENCES CAMPUS
The Department of Microbiology and Immunology is a department of Loyola University Chicago's Stritch School of Medicine, and is located on the Health Sciences Campus within the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL, about 10 miles west of downtown Chicago. LUMC opened in 1969 and is Loyola's largest campus. It sits on 70 acres adjacent to, and affiliated with, the Hines Veterans Administration Hospital.
The Stritch School of Medicine teaches graduate and medical students and conducts research in many different areas. Its graduates hold prominent academic, industrial, and clinical positions throughout the United States. The emphasis at the university is on development of the total person, intellectually, physically, and emotionally. Students are encouraged to participate in nonacademic activities on campus and to enjoy the many cultural, sports, and recreational attractions of nearby Chicago.
The campus is the focus of many activities and support services including: A state-of-the-art Center for Health and Fitness provides students with a wide variety of exercise options, including: variable resistance equipment, an extensive array of free-weights, a 25 yard four lane swimming pool, a water exercise pool, an indoor running track, regulation sized basketball and racquetball courts, saunas, steam rooms, and whirlpool.
Two cafeterias provide an assortment of eating options on campus.
The Student Counseling Service offers confidential psychological and related services.
The Health Science Library offers you a full range of information and educational services. In addition to extensive book, journal, electronic resource, and medical collections, the Library and the Learning Resources Center provides services such as in-house and electronic reference services, interlibrary loans, information management education seminars and consults, medial support, and outreach programs.
THE UNIVERSITY
Loyola University Chicago, is a private university founded in 1870 as St. Ignatius College. It is Chicago's only Jesuit Catholic University and one of the largest of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States. Recognizing Loyola's excellence in education, U.S. News and World Report has ranked Loyola consistently among the "top national universities" and "best values" in its annual publications.
It is comprised of four campuses: Lake Shore, Water Tower, Health Sciences and the John Felice Rome Center in Italy.
Lake Shore serves as the main residential and undergrad campus, and is home to more than 3,000 students. It is set along the shores of Lake Michigan.
Water Tower is home to the School of Business Administration, School of Education, Loyola Law Center, School of Professional Studies, School of Social Work, Institute of Pastoral Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences newest affiliate, the School of Communication, Technology and Public Service. It is the site of Chicago's newest museum, the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA), which opened in October 2005. In the fall of 2006 it will also be the home for the new Water Tower Student Center and Residence Hall.
Loyola University Medical Center is home to Loyola University Health System, which includes Loyola University Medical Center and 17 off-site facilities. It is located on a 70-acre campus in Maywood, a suburb west of Chicago. It is the home of the Stritch School of Medicine and approximately 150 basic science graduate students and 500 medical students.
The John Felice Rome Center is located in Rome, Italy and was established in 1962. It provides more than 400 students a year with the cultural advantages of studying abroad, making it one of the largest centers in Western Europe for international education in the arts and sciences.
THE CHICAGO AREA
Housing
Maywood, approximately 10 miles west of downtown Chicago, is located near historic Oak Park, home to many Frank Lloyd Wright houses and birthplace of Ernest Hemingway. Many of our students live in Oak Park and commute the short two-to-three miles to the Health Sciences Campus. About one mile south of campus is Brookfield with the historic Hollywood neighborhood. Brookfield and neighboring Forest Park are pastoral suburbs and another good source of student housing.
Additionally, there are a variety of locations within the Chicago area where students have found housing. In particular, suburban areas near campus offer a wide choice of comfortable, affordable living accommodations. These include: River Forest, Berwyn, North Riverside, and LaGrange Park. Alternatively, some students commute from Chicago. We highly recommend that you ask current students about housing options. Lists of apartments and houses for rent, maps of the campus and nearby communities, and information about local transportation are readily available through various outlets.
Transportation
Located in Maywood, Loyola University Medical Center is a short ride from both O'Hare and Midway airports. Many of our students use the Pace Bus system to commute to the medical center.
Down town Chicago is short ride away using either light rail CTA system or Metra trains.
Entertainment
Chicago is a welcoming and bustling town. The metropolitan area, with its diversity of attractions, has something for everyone. Best of all, everything is within easy reach of the Medical Center, whether by way of the expressways or using convenient public transportation. When planning a day or evening in Chicago, a great source of information is Metromix, which compiles all of the restaurants/bars/clubs/music and theater venues/movie information (including showtimes), and even has reviews of all the places. You may also want to refer to the Chicago Events Calendar.
Theater is thriving in Chicago with the renowned Steppenwolf Company, Goodman Theater, the Cadillac Palace and Second City - the leading brand in improv-based sketch comedy, as well as a host of other well-established and experimental groups. Also, Loyola University Chicago has an excellent theatre department and, currently, Loyola students can buy tickets for all main stage performances for only $7.00.
Sports fans have the Bulls, Bears, Cubs, Blackhawks and the Chicago White Sox, and a myriad of ballparks where you can watch these and other teams play.
Chicago's many cultural attractions include the world-famous Art Institute of Chicago , the Field Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Adler Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Chicago History Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo as well as numerous smaller museums and galleries. Most of these have discounted prices for students and/or free days.
Music is Chicago's forte and in addition to the world famous Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera, and summer concerts Ravinia, the Chicago area is replete with music venues to fit every taste, Free concerts are available during the summer at the Grant Park Concert Series. Chicago is the home of the Blues and the birth place of Gospel. The best of both are featured for free every summer at Chicago's Blues Fest and Gospel Fest not to mention the worlds largest block party, Taste of Chicago. Music can also be found year round at numerous clubs, including Buddy Guys, House of Blues, Kingston Mines, and Green Mill.
Chicago is also noted for its good restaurants. Some of the most fun places are found in the many ethnic neighborhoods such as Greek Town, China Town, Bucktown, Ukrainian Village or Little Italy along Taylor Street.
There are numerous free or low cost events throughout the year, and especially in the spring and summer, including outdoor movies in Grant Park, Taste of Chicago Air and Water show, Venetian Night, Festival of Lights, Jazz Fest, Blues Fest, SkyDive Chicago, Art Festivals, Shows (Auto Show, Boat Show), Parades (St. Patrick's Day Parade, State Street Thanksgiving Parade), Tours (Architecture tour by boat). You may also enjoy Millennium Park and Navy Pier.
Entertainment in the Maywood-proximal suburbs
Our students also enjoy local entertainment such as movies and food within walking distance in Oak Park.
The Oak Park Visitors Center website has links to the shopping/restaurants in the area:
- The Oak Brook Mall
- The Lake Street Movie Theater
Forest Park also has an active night life enjoyed by many students.
Here are some other suggestions for activities:
- Oktober Fest
- Frank Lloyd Wright Architectural Tour
- Oak Park Festival Theatre
- Forest Park Summer Fest
- Movies in the park
- Brookfield Zoo
- Thursday Night Out
THE DEPARTMENT
We offer a dynamic graduate program in modern microbiology, virology, and immunology, one with exposure to a broad range of disciplines in the basic biomedical sciences - a program that prepares students for a career in research and teaching. You will be encouraged to work independently and creatively, to think critically, and to reach your full potential both professionally and personally. Department faculty are committed to developing strong mentoring relationships with graduate students. We will give you individual attention and guidance every step of the way.
Weekly department lab meetings provide a relaxed, highly interactive setting in which you can follow work being done in all of the various research labs in the department. The departmental lab meeting provides an enjoyable opportunity for you to stay in touch with a broad range of research areas beyond your own specific area of study. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to meet researchers from other research institutions through the country, and, in fact, the world, who are invited to the department to participate in our department's weekly seminar series. Each week, following the seminar, several students are selected to have lunch with the visiting researchers.
The Department includes 14 primary faculty members and 11 who have joint appointments with our department. All of these mentors are located at Loyola's Health Sciences Campus, about 10 miles west of downtown Chicago. The department research environment encompasses 12,500 square feet of contiguous space in the Center for Translational Research and Education (CTRE). Twelve of the fourteen faculty mentors' labs are located in contiguous space on the second floor of CTRE and one other mentor's lab is located on the third floor. The labs of all the joint-appointee mentors are located on campus in nearby buildings connected by a bridge to the CTRE building. This physical closeness facilitates collaborations and other scientific interactions.
Because the increasingly complex problems facing medical science today often require a multidisciplinary response, our department regularly collaborates with researchers from several disciplines, including biochemistry, cell biology, and neuroanatomy. In addition, we are active in the Molecular Biology (one of our major research areas), Cancer Biology, and Neuroscience programs. These interdisciplinary programs draw their faculty and students from all of the basic medical science departments and provide a link to other research programs at Stritch.
THE HEALTH SCIENCES CAMPUS
The Department of Microbiology and Immunology is a department of Loyola University Chicago's Stritch School of Medicine, and is located on the Health Sciences Campus within the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL, about 10 miles west of downtown Chicago. LUMC opened in 1969 and is Loyola's largest campus. It sits on 70 acres adjacent to, and affiliated with, the Hines Veterans Administration Hospital.
The Stritch School of Medicine teaches graduate and medical students and conducts research in many different areas. Its graduates hold prominent academic, industrial, and clinical positions throughout the United States. The emphasis at the university is on development of the total person, intellectually, physically, and emotionally. Students are encouraged to participate in nonacademic activities on campus and to enjoy the many cultural, sports, and recreational attractions of nearby Chicago.
The campus is the focus of many activities and support services including: A state-of-the-art Center for Health and Fitness provides students with a wide variety of exercise options, including: variable resistance equipment, an extensive array of free-weights, a 25 yard four lane swimming pool, a water exercise pool, an indoor running track, regulation sized basketball and racquetball courts, saunas, steam rooms, and whirlpool.
Two cafeterias provide an assortment of eating options on campus.
The Student Counseling Service offers confidential psychological and related services.
The Health Science Library offers you a full range of information and educational services. In addition to extensive book, journal, electronic resource, and medical collections, the Library and the Learning Resources Center provides services such as in-house and electronic reference services, interlibrary loans, information management education seminars and consults, medial support, and outreach programs.
THE UNIVERSITY
Loyola University Chicago, is a private university founded in 1870 as St. Ignatius College. It is Chicago's only Jesuit Catholic University and one of the largest of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States. Recognizing Loyola's excellence in education, U.S. News and World Report has ranked Loyola consistently among the "top national universities" and "best values" in its annual publications.
It is comprised of four campuses: Lake Shore, Water Tower, Health Sciences and the John Felice Rome Center in Italy.
Lake Shore serves as the main residential and undergrad campus, and is home to more than 3,000 students. It is set along the shores of Lake Michigan.
Water Tower is home to the School of Business Administration, School of Education, Loyola Law Center, School of Professional Studies, School of Social Work, Institute of Pastoral Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences newest affiliate, the School of Communication, Technology and Public Service. It is the site of Chicago's newest museum, the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA), which opened in October 2005. In the fall of 2006 it will also be the home for the new Water Tower Student Center and Residence Hall.
Loyola University Medical Center is home to Loyola University Health System, which includes Loyola University Medical Center and 17 off-site facilities. It is located on a 70-acre campus in Maywood, a suburb west of Chicago. It is the home of the Stritch School of Medicine and approximately 150 basic science graduate students and 500 medical students.
The John Felice Rome Center is located in Rome, Italy and was established in 1962. It provides more than 400 students a year with the cultural advantages of studying abroad, making it one of the largest centers in Western Europe for international education in the arts and sciences.