Graduate Programs
Cell Biology and Anatomy

Cell Biology

The graduate training program in Cell Biology is designed to provide the students with knowledge, skills and technical experience to develop and maintain research programs and to participate in the service endeavors of the institution and profession. Our research programs include angiogenesis, apoptosis, cell secretory mechanisms, cell cycle, cellular differentiation, cell signaling, DNA damage, endothelial physiology, fluorescence microscopy, HIV and glial cell biology, growth factors and neurotrophins, nitric oxide, nuclear function, oxidative stress, regulated intramembrane proteolysis, and stem cell research.

Visual Science

The graduate training program in Visual Sciences is designed to provide the students with knowledge, skills and technical experience to prepare them for a research career in industry or academia. Students will undertake advanced courses in vision-related topics involving the normal structure and function of the eye and associated structures; and pathologies affecting these organs such as Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), Glaucoma, Diabetic Retinopathy, Inherited Retinal Degenerations, Proliferative Retinal Diseases, and Cataracts. The students will also be involved in in-depth basic research training utilizing genetic, molecular, cellular, biochemical, physiological or pharmacological approaches in laboratories of university-affiliated vision experts in order to complete major requirements for master's or doctoral degrees. In order to accomplish these, students are encouraged to acquire a broad based knowledge from various disciplines in the institution and laboratories which can then be applied towards vision research.

Structural Anatomy

The Structural Anatomy Ph.D. Program, through coursework, teaching, and research opportunities will develop and train students who will be qualified to teach the anatomical sciences at medical schools, health science centers, and universities across the U.S. The program focuses on anatomy-based research projects using advanced experimental, computational, and clinical tools to study clinical structural anatomy, orthopedics, biomechanics, surgery, tissue engineering, and/or educational research areas of the anatomical sciences. The major impetus of the research in the discipline will consist of but not be limited to: 1) the analysis, design, and/or development of orthopedic surgical techniques, instruments, and devices used in orthopedic surgery or practice, 2) biomechanics, including the study of the structure, function, evolution/adaptive significance, and mechanical behavior of soft and hard tissues, 3) clinical anatomy studies in cardiology or neuroscience, 4) studies in skeletal biology, and 5) studies in anatomy pedagogy through the development of unique education tools, techniques, and assessment strategies.