Disease oriented research focuses in areas of vision, circadian rhythms, neural development, neural degeneration and chemosensory pathways and provide a challenge for developing clinical intervention technology. The goal of these interdisciplinary programs is to provide a bridge between basic science discoveries and advances in technology which support clinical innovation. The objective of this department is to train scientists who will make original, significant contributions to biomedical science. The department offers a training program which emphasizes knowledge in immunology, virology and cellular and molecular biology. Pathology The Department of Pathology offers a program leading to a Ph.D. in Pathobiology.
Emphasis is placed in interdisciplinary approaches to the study of human disease.
Areas currently under investigation include molecular genetics and pathogenetic mechanisms in cancer, animal models for cancer, viral oncogenesis, tumor biology and immunotherapy, molecular endocrinology, developmental biology, alcohol-induced liver and pancreatic diseases, immunogenetics and immunobiology, diseases of the nervous system, environmental pathology and toxicology, and genetic diseases and gene therapy. Reflecting this fact, students in Physiology and Biophysics are guided in the development of an educational program that considers problems from multiple perspectives. The biostatistics program is concerned with the development and application of statistical principles and methods to problems in medical, biological and health sciences. Students are trained in techniques for collection, analysis and interpretation of data, primarily by computer. Coursework includes biostatistics, statistical epidemiology, statistical computing, clinical trials, multivariate analysis and survival analysis.