Abstract The University of Virginia is consistently ranked within the top 3 public universities and has a traditional strength in the areas of cell and molecular biology, where it had discoveries as central as the mechanism of G-protein signaling, development of the histone code concept and the identification of Map Kinase. For 35 years the interdisciplinary Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Program (CMB), whose 86 faculty from 12 departments and three schools, has been bringing together the best biomedical graduate students and faculty from across the grounds to generate a training forum that complements classroom and laboratory experience. Students join an inclusive program in their second year and remain associated with the program until they graduate. The training focuses on the second and third years of Ph.D. training employing tools that guide students through the transition from class knowledge to independent thinking and practical use of the scientific method. The CMB program intensifies this transformative period by nurturing the students through a series of poster sessions, data clubs, retreats, writing classes, mixers, and symposia to expose the students to outstanding multi- disciplinary science from around the university. The program also builds professional skills through mentor training, workshops on both scientific rigor and reproducibility and ethics, volunteer opportunities in the Charlottesville community, and consistent exposure to emerging topics that affect the biomedical community. Our goal is well rounded PhD trainees that can both employ the scientific method to complex problems and also master the professional skills required for the numerous scientific career choices of the 21st century. The past success of our trainees in both academic and nonacademic scientific careers demonstrates that the CMB program prepares students to become leaders of biomedical sciences.