Education
Ph.D. Program
Trainee Recruitment, Selection and Retention
- Recruitment
- Selection
- Admissions
- Oversight and Retention
- Current Ph.D. Students
- Master’s Program
- Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)
Recruitment
The Department targets five major national meetings, the Biophysical Society, American Physiological Society, Society for Neuroscience, SACNAS (minority recruitment) and ABRCM (minority recruitment). Dr. De Felice brings strong recruitment experience, having led a very successful Neuroscience Program and the minority Bridges Program at Vanderbilt. He has already provided presence of the Training Program in Physiology and Biophysics at regional meetings (Virginia Junior Academy of Sciences, Virginia Academy of Sciences), university fairs in Virginia and in neighboring states and national meetings targeting undergraduates interested in research careers. The Department also taps into VCU resources (the Honors College, HHMI undergraduates and HERO programs) including its own Summer Undergraduate Research Program. The Department has developed a brochure summarizing the Training Program and faculty research interests to be distributed to directors of targeted undergraduate programs and students who inquire about training opportunities in Physiology and Biophysics. The Department is committed to diversity in recruitment and enrollment and is actively engaged in Medical School initiatives to promote underrepresented minorities. Similarly, the Department invites students with disabilities or disadvantaged students (economically or otherwise) to apply for Graduate studies in Physiology and Biophysics.
Selection
The applicant pool of students interested in Physiology and Biophysics cannot yet be evaluated as this program was recently reconfigured from a traditional Physiology Training Program. We adhere to the AAMC Compact between Biomedical Graduate Students and their Research Advisors [PDF].
Admissions
The Admissions Committee consists of Drs. De Felice, Pittman, Baumgarten, a fourth member of the faculty selected from the student’s area of interest and a doctoral student representative (elected yearly). Once the student has submitted an application to the Graduate School, the information comes to the Graduate Program Director (GPD). We have also instituted a FastTrack Application process for our Department (available to all Ph.D. granting units in the School of Medicine).
Although a formal application to the VCU Graduate School must be completed before admission to a Ph.D. program, applicants are encouraged to provide information directly to individual Departments or Programs. Applicants may e-mail the Graduate Program Directors and self-report their own GPA and GRE, include a personal statement, and list the names and e-mail addresses of three referees. The FastTrack Review Self-Reporting Form [Word], to be submitted in parallel with a formal application, allows rapid feedback to the applicant. Ph.D. training in the School of Medicine is based in both interdisciplinary structures and those based in academic departments.
Oversight and Retention
The first year advisor is the GPD, Dr. De Felice. We track the academic progress of our students closely and, after each major exam, Dr. De Felice discusses performance and strategies for Ph.D. students in that course who seem to be struggling. At the end of the Spring Semester of the first year, the student will submit a standardized Progress Report to the GPD, to be placed in the student’s file. This would include courses taken, grades received, rotation experiences and other pertinent information to mark progress. Thereafter, one week in advance of the student’s yearly interval Dissertation Committee meetings, the student will submit a Progress Report to the Committee and the GPD, to include courses taken and grades received, if appropriate, meetings attended, Data Club or other internal seminars, abstracts and papers submitted or published, etc, also to be placed in the student’s file alongside the Committee’s evaluation of the meeting including recommendations for continuation or adjustment of particular research objectives. As part of this self reporting regular activity, students are trained to construct and maintain their professional curriculum vitae.
Current Ph.D. Students
The current Ph.D. trainees are listed below. For more information on laboratory affiliations, visit the Student directory.
Student profiles listing background, academic performance and research interests and accomplishments are being assembled and will be available soon.
Ph.D. Students: (year of matriculation-mentor)
- Thair Alamieri (2008)
- Othman Al-Shboul (2006 - Karnam)
- Mohammed Al-Qudah (2009)
- Hema S. Aluri (2009)
- Charles Anderson (2004 - Logothetis)
- Melissa Bednarek (2004 - Ratz)
- Sayak Bhattacharya (2008 - Liu)
- Wu Deng (2005 – Baumgarten)
- Pooja Desai (2008)
- Yan Li (2004 - Grider)
- Rahul Mahajan (2006 - Logothetis)
- Nikita Mishra (2006 - Walsh)
- Ahmad Mousa (2008)
- William Nugent (2005 - Pittman)
- Vasileios Petrou (2005 - Logothetis)
- Sherry Pinkstaff (2007 - Arena)
- Aaron Randolph (2007 - Ramsey)
- Ernesto Solis (2005 – De Felice)
- Bjorn Song (2006 - Pittman)
- Carissa Strane (2008)
- Amit Varma (2008 - Kukreja)
- Maria I. Villamil-Jarauta (2009)
- Crystal West (2009)
- Andrew Yannaccone (2006 - Pittman)
M.D./Ph.D. Students
- Scott Adney (2009 - Logothetis)
- Stephen Bakos (2006 - Costanzo)
- Michael Connery (2008 - Pittman)
- Rahul Mahajan (2008 - Logothetis)
- Frank Raucci (2006 - Baumgarten)
Master’s Program
The goal of this program is to provide students the opportunity to experience laboratory research and utilize it towards their next professional step, whether this may be medical, dental or graduate school for Ph.D. work. Consideration for admission into the program requires successful completion of the Certificate Program administered by the School of Medicine.
Students entering the Masters program will have already identified a Master’s thesis laboratory (associated with the program in Physiology and Biophysics) through the Certificate Program, where they will focus working on a research project with minimal additional course work (see “Research Option” on Certificate Program Web site). Students wishing to enter the Ph.D. program apply as regular entry students, but once they matriculate they are treated as second year Ph.D. students. Thus, students entering the Ph.D. program through the Masters program are expected to pass both phases of the Qualifying Exam in their first year of the Ph.D. program.
Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)
The goal of this program is to recruit academically excellent undergraduate students to engage in departmental laboratory research projects during the summer and to enrich the candidate pools for the Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. programs. The program provides a $2,500 stipend for living expenses and, if needed, additional assistance for housing. The duration of SURP in Physiology and Biophysics is 10 weeks, from the first week in June to mid-August. During the summer, in addition to research in the host lab, students sponsored from the department or other programs interact with faculty members and graduate students to acquaint themselves with research opportunities, facilities and the environment in the Department. Mechanisms to encourage these interactions include: 1) a breakfast gathering once per week with scientific presentations from members of the Department hosting students, or to present progress reports, and 2) departmental social events. At the conclusion of the program, each student will give a poster presentation summarizing his/her results at the SURP in Physiology and Biophysics Poster Symposium.
