Department of Neuroscience
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas
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Baylor College of Medicine - Department of Neuroscience - Overview
Baylor College of Medicine's Neuroscience Graduate Programs Offer World-Class Faculty Members and Facilities
In the rapidly growing field of neuroscience, the Department of Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, provides an internationally acclaimed Ph.D. in neuroscience and a combined M.D./Ph.D. in combination with Baylor's medical program. Baylor's neuroscience graduate programs provide students with a solid foundation in the full breadth of brain function analysis, from the level of individual genes and protein molecules to large-scale analysis of whole brain areas in behaving humans. The programs offer intensive focus for students' particular dissertation research areas with interactive mentoring between several labs.
Located at the world-famous Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the United States, Baylor's Department of Neuroscience features state-of-the-art facilities, including the country's largest imaging research facility. The highly competitive program attracts top candidates who, once accepted, enjoy free tuition and a generous stipend. Graduates of the program have received postdoctoral positions in prestigious labs at top institutions such as MIT, Princeton, Harvard, and Stanford.
Internationally Renowned Faculty Members Are Involved in Ground-breaking Neuroscience Research
The faculty members of the Neuroscience graduate programs comprise many of the nation's leading neuroscience researchers representing a variety of sub-disciplines. Their expertise and contributions to discovery in fundamental processes of brain function in health and disease are well represented in scientific journals. During the last three years alone, the combined 40 primary and secondary faculty members have published 390 articles. Virtually the entire Neuroscience faculty has independent research funding from the National Institutes of Health. Many faculty members serve on major national advisory panels, such as initial review groups at the National Institutes of Health and editorial boards of leading scientific journals.
Program Offers Top-Notch Neuroscience Research Facilities
The Neuroscience Department's cutting-edge research facilities include the Human Genome Sequencing Center, the Human Neuroimaging Lab, and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute.
The Human Genome Sequencing Center (HGSC) is a world leader in genomics. It is devoted to advancing biology and genetics by improved genome technologies. One of three large-scale sequencing centers funded by the National Institutes of Health, the HGSC's location at the heart of the Texas Medical Center provides a unique opportunity to apply the latest in genome technologies in science and medicine. For example, the Cancer Genome Project seeks to explore the entire spectrum of genomic change in cancer through the application of genome analysis technologies, including large-scale genome sequencing. The Cancer Genome Atlas Pilot Project (TCGA) was initiated in 2006 to identify important genetic changes involved in lung, brain, and ovarian cancers.
Research projects at the Neuroscience Department's Human Nueroimaging Laboratory, the largest imaging research facility in the U.S., cover areas including neuroscience, psychology, political science, and economics. Particular areas of interest are hyperscanning (a means of exploring the brain activity that underlies human social interactions), social neuroscience, neural circuitry of valuation and decision-making, and disruptions of such processes associated with developmental and psychiatric illness.
Although research at the National Space Biomedical Research Institute seeks to understand how the body reacts in space and provide countermeasures for long-duration missions in reduced gravity, the Institute's research has wide-ranging applications for improving health and medical care on Earth.
Ph.D. in Neuroscience Is a Five-Year Program
In the first year of the Ph.D. in Neuroscience program, candidates complete a required curriculum with a series of courses designed to give them a strong background in all facets of neuroscience. At the same time, first-year students familiarize themselves with different approaches to neuroscience research by embarking on a series of three to five 8-week rotations in the laboratories of Neuroscience faculty members of their choice. During the rotations, students typically generate preliminary data that serve to help generate ideas for a thesis project.
In the second year, students choose an advisor, enter into the lab full time, and, with the guidance of their advisor and Advisory Committee, they develop suitable thesis research projects. Students take a qualifying exam for admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree.
Over the next two years, students continue to dedicate themselves to completing their thesis project, honing their laboratory skills, and developing their ability to think critically. At the completion of the program, students give a public seminar and defend their project in front of their committee.
Baylor College of Medicine's Neuroscience Graduate Programs Exceeds Students' Expectations
Kara Hudson, a neuroscience graduate student in the entering class of 2007, remarked that the reality of being in the Baylor Neuroscience Graduate Program far exceeds the program's great reputation. "I was amazed by the breadth and quality of research done by the neuroscience faculty. Even with their accomplishments, faculty members are very approachable. Unlike the other places I interviewed, they were genuinely interested in students, which sold me on the department."
Damon Tomlin, Ph.D., a 2006 Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) alumnus and post-doctoral associate at Princeton University, chose BCM because of the diverse range of interests held by the faculty and their ground-breaking research. "In addition, the BCM Neuroscience department possesses state-of-the-art facilities for everything from molecular biology to whole-brain imaging, allowing students to learn the use of equipment and techniques not available at other institutions. As an alumnus, I can say that the education and training I received have made me very well-prepared for a career in neuroscience research."