Graduate School Bulletin

Physiology and Biophysics Department

The Department of Physiology and Biophysics offers a program of study leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The broad interests of our faculty provide diverse research opportunities ranging from systems physiology, to translational cancer research and single molecule biophysics. Our goal is to instruct students in the use of quantitative methods to study complex physiological problems of relevance to human health and disease.

The Department's principal areas of research specialization are 1) Ion channel and gap junction Biophysics, with emphasis on cardiology and vision; 2) Intracellular and intercellular signaling mechanisms in cancer and neurobiology; 3). Physiology at the cellular, organ, and intact animal levels with emphasis on transgenic models of disease; 4) Fluorescence microscopy with the largest concentrations of microscopy equipment at Stony Brook University.

Our curriculum is based on a foundation in Human Physiology with additional advanced courses in Statistical Methods, Biochemistry and the physical chemistry of Biomembranes. Through elective coursework in Applied Mathematics, Genetics, Neurobiology or Journalism students can tailor their training to their career goals. Students from our program have gone on to careers in academic and industrial research, government service and law.

Master of Science Degree in Biomedical Sciences, Physiology and Biophysics Track

Goals of the Program

The overall goals of the Master of Science degree program in Biomedical Sciences (Physiology and Biophysics track) are to provide students with a biomedical foundation towards their higher professional education or career goals in medicine and research. We seek to ready our students for entry and success into medical and dental programs, as well as positions of research staff scientist in laboratories and industry, a teaching career at the undergraduate college level, or further graduate study leading to the Ph.D. degree. To accomplish these goals, the program of study provides training in cellular and systems-level physiology, membrane biophysics, experimental design, data analysis, and commonly used laboratory techniques in integrative physiology. We provide a heavy emphasis on pathophysiology and clinical case-based learning. Elective coursework in Physiology and Biophysics, Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Pharmacological Sciences are then selected to complement and expand on the above core training, and meet the individual needs of each student.

Time

All requirements must be completed within three years.