For Researchers > Neuroscience Training

Ph.D. Program In Neuroscience

Neuroscience Program Open House
TBA Jan. 2006

Graduate Program in Neuroscience catalog
(641 KB Adobe pdf file)

• Overview
• Program Objectives
• Faculty
• Select Areas of Faculty Research Interest
• Research Facilities
• Curriculum
• Applicant Qualifications
• Financial Support
• For More Information

Overview

Thomas Jefferson University's new interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience, jointly established by Jefferson College of Graduate Studies and the Farber Institute for Neurosciences, provides hands-on neuroscience training with internationally recognized scientists. Students will study and train at state-of-the-art research facilities on the Jefferson campus in central Philadelphia.

The Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience combines classroom, seminar and laboratory study in a wide range of synergistic disciplines (e.g., cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics). Designed to arm graduating students with the skills and experience needed to pursue a career in education and/or research in an academic setting or industry, the program includes:

• formal instruction in the classroom;
• laboratory experience sufficient to pursue and develop a scholarly scientific research project;
• the opportunity to serve as a teacher in order to acquire skills applicable to becoming an effective teacher, and
• the opportunity to apply knowledge of basic science to translational research in the clinic.

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Students in the neuroscience program will become acquainted with a wide variety of research areas in neuroscience. In recognition of the synergy with other disciplines, the core curriculum includes courses in neuroscience, cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology. The goal is to provide students with a thorough background in the primary issues in these areas as well as the latest experimental methods for investigating them. Students will select a faculty member to serve as their research mentor, and together they will design and conduct a scholarly research project in an area of interest.

Classroom and laboratory training is provided by a multidisciplinary f aculty representing the Farber Institute and a dozen affiliated basic science and clinical departments within Thomas Jefferson University. Participating faculty members are senior scientists in their fields, and have strong records in mentorship. Each has one or more current NIH grants, with funding from NINDS, NIA, NIEHS, NIAAA, NIDA, NEI and NIMH.

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Program Director Elisabeth J. Van Bockstaele, Ph.D., an associate professor of neurosurgery and pathology, anatomy and cell biology, heads her own laboratory at Farber investigating cellular adaptations of drugs of abuse in noradrenergic circuits. Farber Director Sam Gandy, M.D., Ph.D., an internationally recognized expert in molecular biology and Alzheimer's drug discovery, has made it a top priority to establish the Institute as a leading training center in molecular neuroscience.

Participating faculty members are also senior scientists in their fields, and have strong records in mentorship. Each has one or more current NIH grants, with funding from NINDS, NIA, NIEHS, NIAAA, NIDA, NEI and NIMH. The program faculty's diversity in both funding and expertise is crucial to the program's interdisciplinary strength.

Participating Faculty

*Laboratory Head, Farber Institute for Neurosciences
**Associate Member, Farber Institute for Neurosciences

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• Role of G protein-coupled receptors in neuronal signaling (Jeffrey Benovic)
• Ocular regulation of the circadian and neuroendocrine systems (George Brainard)
• Regulation of striatal gene expression (Michelle Ehrlich; Lorraine Iacovitti)
• Structure and function of voltage-gated ion channels (Manuel Covarrubias, Richard Horn)
• Regulation of striatal gene expression in health and disease (Michelle Ehrlich)
• Effects of IGF-1 on motor function recovery (Leonard Eisenman)
• Molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer's amyloid metabolism (Sam Gandy)
• Neuropeptive-dependent transcription regulation networks and neuromodulation (Gregory Gonye)
• Studies on human embryonic stem cells in Parkinson's Disease (Lorraine Iacovitti)
• Signaling by adhesion receptors in lens and retina differentiation (Sue Menko, Gerald Grunwald)
• Molecular and cellular pathways of neurodegenration in polyglutamine disease (Dianne Merry)
• Neural substrates underlying anxiety and depression (Michelle Page)
• Cell death, neuroprotection, nicotinic receptors, Parkinson's Disease (Jay Schneider)
• Visceral-emotional neuraxis; adaptation in circadian circuits (James Schwaber)
• Role of noradrenergic circuits in stress and drug addiction (Elisabeth Van Bockstaele)

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The Farber Institute for Neurosciences of Thomas Jefferson University is a newly renovated, 25,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility whose mission is to translate basic neuroscience advances into new therapies for people suffering from disorders of the central nervous system. For more information on the Institute's research programs, please visit For Researchers and click on the area of interest.

The laboratories of program faculty are housed in modern research buildings that are fully equipped for investigations in all aspects of cellular and molecular neuroscience, including the latest methods for studies involving recombinant DNA technology, nucleic acid sequencing, PCR and DNA microarray analysis, protein purification and analysis, cell and tissue culture, computer analysis, and light and electron microscopy. Faculty members' laboratories have active, extramurally funded research programs in a variety of areas.

The Jefferson College of Graduate Studies, established in 1969, has an outstanding track record in graduate education and training, and the Ph.D. program in neuroscience is part of a new emphasis on graduate training in the neurological sciences, one of the fastest growing areas of biomedical research. The program is an example of Jefferson's expanding research focus on rapidly developing, contemporary areas of biomedical sciences, including molecular and cellular biology. The University boasts more than 600 active research programs receiving approximately $150 million in external research and training support.

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Curriculum

** Elective courses listed below

Electives

Applicant Qualifications

Several factors are considered for admission into the graduate program, including academic achievement at an undergraduate college or university, performance on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), previous research experience, and potential for success in research. The applicant must possess or expect to receive, prior to matriculation in the Jefferson College of Graduate Studies, a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. A solid background in the sciences is considered essential to success in the graduate program.

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Financial Support

Financial support is available for qualified applicants, including full tuition and stipend.

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For More Information

For more information, please visit the Jefferson College of Graduate Studies, Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience.

To download an application, go to www.jefferson.edu/jcgs/admissions

Elisabeth Van Bockstaele, Ph.D.
Director, Neuroscience Graduate Program
Department of Neurosurgery
Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience

Thomas Jefferson University
900 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107

Telephone 215-503-1245
FAX 215-955-4949
Elisabeth.vanbockstaele@jefferson.edu

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