Our program has been thoughtfully designed to provide you with the most effective learning environment. Whether you want to work on new vaccines, develop smartphone apps for mobile health, or engage international communities, you will learn the skills you need to make an impact.
We are global. The program is embedded with a range of global and community health opportunities that help bridge basic and population sciences that serve real communities and their needs, including local and global Deaf communities.
A true multidisciplinary program. Our students work with world-renowned scientists from a variety of specialties and highly diverse backgrounds.
Tailored to your needs. Together with program co-directors, you design your program of studyboth didactic coursework and researchto fit your research interests and career goals.
Mentor approach. To provide a broader perspective on how your research can be applied to the world, our program uses a dual mentoring model. Select a primary and co-mentor, one each with expertise in basic or population/clinical/translational science from the School of Medicine or Arts, Sciences and Engineering.
Survival skills for research. You will learn what it takes to survive and thrive in an academic environment, such as how to write grants, give presentations, how to write and review manuscripts, and how to find postdocs and jobs after graduation through career development programs offered in the Center for Professional Development and URBEST program.
The PhD in Translational Biomedical Science is unique as it is highly interdisciplinary. Each current trainee is working on an entirely different type of project, and no two theses end up alike. The current roster of mentors contains an extremely wide breadth of expertise, allowing for the trainees to receive an education unlike any other program. The knowledge that our trainees acquire throughout their time in the program is based in population and public health, basic science, team science, biostatistics, ethics, and many other areas.
Trainees are required to do three rotations during the first year of study. These rotations familiarize the trainee with faculty members who may end up serving as their mentor(s), and aid in discovering a thesis project. Trainees gain experience in research, attend seminars, and practice their communication skills in these rotations. At the end of the first year, trainees choose their mentor(s) and embark on a PhD thesis research program. True to the interdisciplinary nature of the program, trainees may choose as their primary research mentor(s) any faculty member within the University with an appropriate research program and funding mechanism to support the student after the first year.
