Research

Workshop on Opportunities for Graduate Studies in Quantitative Biomedical Research

Opportunities for Graduate School in the Quantitative Biomedical Sciences
In conjunction with
The Field of Dreams Conference 2010
Iowa Memorial Union (IMU), University of Iowa
October 8th, 2010 - Noon to 5pm, Dinner at 6:30pm

Sponsors: The National Institute for General Medical Sciences, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Science Foundation and The University of Iowa (College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, College of Public Health, College of Engineering, Carver College of Medicine)

Workshop

The purpose of the workshop was to inform students about quantitative biomedical research opportunities requiring quantitative skills. Presentations focused on:

1. What is the science?
2. What are the usual requirements for admission to a program in the area? And what are the desirable qualifications?

Introduction and Welcome (pdf)

Chair: Kathryn Chaloner, PhD; Professor and Head of Biostatistics, UI College of Public Health
Co-Chair: Tonya Peeples, PhD; Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, UI College of Engineering; Director of Ethnic Inclusion in Engineering
Co-Chair: Philip Kutzko, PhD; Professor of Mathematics; Executive Director of the National Alliance for Doctoral Studies in the Mathematical Sciences

What are Biostatistics (pdf) and Mathematical Biology (pdf) and what kind of careers are available in these areas?

Chair: Philip Kutzko, PhD; Professor of Mathematics
Speaker: Christopher Coffey, PhD; UI Professor of Biostatistics
Speaker: Isabel Darcy, PhD; Associate Professor of Mathematics

Dr. Coffey will discuss his work as a biostatistician and discuss the importance of biostatistics in medical research, and the great demand for biostatisticians. He will outline the mathematics and biology that are necessary and required for admission to a biostatistics graduate program (15 mins).

Dr. Isabel Darcy will describe her work in applying topology to problems in biology, including understanding the structure and mechanism of DNA. She will briefly show graphically how knot theory can be used to study protein mechanisms, and the mathematical concept of a tangle. She will outline the undergraduate training in both biology and mathematics that is helpful in pursuing graduate studies in mathematical biology (15 mins).

Rodica Curtu, PhD, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Bruce Ayati, PhD, Assistant Professor of Mathematics will join the speakers on a panel and briefly introduce themselves. A question and answer session will follow.

What are Statistical Genetics (pdf) and Bioinformatics (pdf)? What kind of careers are available in these areas?

Chair: Tonya Peeples, PhD; Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Speaker: Mark Beasley, PhD; Professor of Biostatistics, Division of Statistical Genetics, University of Alabama Birmingham
Speaker: Tom Casavant, PhD; Professor of Engineering and of Medicine; The Roy J. Carver, Jr. Chair in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

Dr. Beasley will give a 10 minute talk on Statistical Genetics.

Dr. Casavant will give a 10 minute presentation on bioinformatics and give examples of identifying genetic causes of eye disease. These presentations will be followed by a question and answer session and discussion of material on requirements for admission into different but related graduate programs (15 mins).

Experiences, challenges and rewards of graduate study in a quantitative biomedical area. Panel of graduate students in biomedical engineering, genetics, bioinformatics, computational biology.

Moderator: Matiel Reyes Ortiz, PhD; University of Puerto Rico
Panelists: Alex Lodge (Chemistry/Biotechnology), Candace Price (Math Biology), Ben Brett (Genetics), Marlene Cano (MD/PhD program), Carmen Smith (Biostatistics)

The panel of graduate students will describe their experience in getting to graduate school in biomedical sciences, challenges they have faced, and the rewards they have experienced and anticipate. Question and discussion will follow.

Biomedical Engineering (pdf), and how does it relate to Applied Math? How can a PhD in medical imaging be in both biomedical engineering and applied math?

Chair: Kathryn Chaloner, PhD
Speaker: Edwin Dove, PhD

Dr. Dove will briefly describe his work and the opportunities for graduate study in biomedical engineering using quantitative and computational methods. Dr. Dove will show images and discuss some of his work in three dimensional biomedical imaging of the heart and lung. He will give a 10 minute presentation, and provide material on suggested undergraduate preparation. He will be joined by Weimin Han, PhD, Department of Mathematics who will briefly introduce himself and an opportunity for a question and answer session will follow.

What is a T32 fellowship (pdf) and how do I get one? What is the importance of a summer research experience in applying to graduate school (pdf)?

Chair: Kathryn Chaloner, PhD
Speaker: Pamela Geyer, PhD; Professor of Biochemistry and Director of the MD/PhD program
Speaker: Daniel Quinn, PhD; Professor of Chemistry and Directory of the Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Biotechnology

Pamela Geyer will make introductory remarks about T32 programs which are PhD/MD joint degree programs and give the typical requirements for admission. Drs. Quinn and Geyer will describe T32 fellowships. They will also discuss how, in the biomedical sciences, undergraduates applying to graduate school are expected to have had a summer research experience. In addition, when they visit a program for an interview, it is important that they can discuss that summer research experience in a meaningful way and demonstrate that they took ownership and responsibility for it. Questions and answers will follow.

“What I wish I had known when I first went to graduate school” (pdf)

Speaker: Sarah England, PhD; Professor of Physiology & Biophysics; Director of the Iowa Biosciences Advantage Program