Baylor College of Medicine
Neuroscience
Houston, Texas
Overview
Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is an independent, private institution dedicated to excellence in research and to both graduate and medical education. Both the research activities and graduate education at BCM are characterized by a high level of interdisciplinary cooperation among all Baylor departments. The College facilitates research activities by supporting extensive resources such as the BCM Information Network, major symposia, and numerous core research facilities. There is also ample opportunity for extensive interaction with other institutions in the Texas Medical Center. For example, Rice University has close ties with Baylor College of Medicine and provides important complementary research strengths. A reciprocity agreement among Rice University, the University of Texas Health Science Center, the University of Houston, and Baylor College of Medicine also allows graduate students to take courses at any of the participating institutions.
Created in 1989, the graduate program in neuroscience has 51 full-time graduate students. A federally funded training program for predoctoral trainees in neuroscience funds a dynamic and highly interactive training environment. The Graduate School has 482 students and the Medical School, 682. In its admissions policies, Baylor places no restrictions on sex, age, religion, race, or country of origin.
Location and Community
Baylor College of Medicine is located within the Texas Medical Center, a large and vigorous research community that also includes the University of Texas Health Science Center, eight teaching hospitals, and the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Rice University is within two blocks of the Medical Center. Houston is also the home of the University of Houston and numerous other colleges and universities. The fourth-largest city in the nation, Houston is an exciting cultural and metropolitan center. Ballet, opera, symphony, and theater are excellent. Many fine museums and parks enhance life in the city. Professional and amateur sports are very popular. The climate permits participation in a wide variety of outdoor activities, and the Gulf Coast beaches are only a short drive from the city.
Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The graduate program leading to the Ph.D. in Neuroscience is designed as a five-year program. In the first year, students complete a required curriculum with a series of courses that are designed to provide the student with a strong background in all facets of neuroscience. This basic coursework is augmented by several elective courses that students choose to take in the areas of Molecular Neuroscience, Systems Neuroscience and the Neurobiology of Disease. Concurrently, first year students familiarize themselves with the different approaches to neuroscience research by embarking on a series of 3-5 eight-week rotations in the laboratories of Neuroscience faculty of their choice. The purposes of the laboratory rotations are to provide a vehicle for the students to familiarize themselves with the faculty and the focus of their research, to gain experience in a variety of experimental techniques, and to gain an appreciation for the diverse set of issues currently being addressed by the Faculty in the Department of Neuroscience. In addition, during the rotations students typically generate preliminary data that serve to help generate ideas for a thesis project.
At the end of the first year, an oral qualifying exam (part I) is administered to determine the student's comprehension of the basic neuroscience material they have learned during the year in courses and seminars and their eligibility to continue with their research. Eligibility is determined by examination of the student's basic knowledge of Neuroscience, their capacity for originality and their scientific approach to research. At the beginning of 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. . In the spring of the second year students take part II of their qualifying exam that is administered by members of the student's Thesis Advisory Committee. This exam includes a written and oral component and is designed to test the student's ability to synthesize, write,, and defend a scientific research project of the student's choice. The research proposal may cover any area of neuroscience research and typically (but not necessarily) represents a project being conducted or contemplated by the student for their thesis project. Upon the successful completion of the qualifying exam and satisfying the necessary course requirements, a student is formally admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D.
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. Twice a year, students meet with their Thesis Advisory Committee, which oversees the progress of the student's development and research project. At the completion of the Ph.D. program, students give a public seminar and defend their project in front of their committee.
Facilities & Resources
The Department of Neuroscience, which is based in the Smith Research Building, has outstanding modern research facilities for cellular and molecular neurobiology, neuroanatomy, electrophysiology and biophysics, behavioral neuroscience, computational neuroscience, functional brain imaging and optical imaging.. The department has also undergone a major expansion of the faculty, which has resulted in new research opportunities for students. The local environment is research intensive and adjoins other active research programs ongoing at Baylor College of Medicine.
Expenses and Aid
All tuition costs are covered by tuition scholarships. A matriculation fee of $25 and a graduation fee of $140 are the responsibility of the student.
Financial Aid:
All students receive stipends from the department. For the academic year, the stipend for first-year students is $28,000 plus medical insurance. Students are also encouraged, however, to apply for NSF and NRSA predoctoral fellowships as well as fellowships from various private foundations.
Housing/Living Expenses:
All students receive stipends from the department. For the academic year, the stipend for first-year students is $28,000 plus medical insurance. Students are also encouraged, however, to apply for NSF and NRSA predoctoral fellowships as well as fellowships from various private foundations.
How to Apply
Entrance into the Department of Neuroscience graduate program requires a baccalaureate degree and acceptable undergraduate performance. No restrictions are placed on the type of undergraduate major. A solid foundation in biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics is preferred. However, we also encourage students with backgrounds in Psychology or other Social and Behavioral Sciences, Computer Science and Mathematics with a keen interest in nervous system function to apply. Students should have satisfactorily completed (as a minimum) biology, organic chemistry, college physics, and mathematics during their undergraduate training. Students who have not taken all of these courses may have the opportunity to acquire these prerequisites during their first year, but prerequisite credit will not count toward the degree.
Prospective students must submit results from the general aptitude section of the Graduate Records Examination. In addition to general aptitude tests, applicants are strongly encouraged to take advanced tests in areas of their special scientific expertise. Medical College Aptitude Tests may be offered in lieu of the GRE only by M.D./Ph.D. applicants. Scores from exams taken more than three years prior to application are not valid. At least two letters of recommendation from undergraduate faculty sponsors must be offered in support of an application. Strong, unequivocal letters attesting to the applicant's educational development, inquisitive nature, and analytical skills are important. If the applicant has graduate or professional school experience, two additional letters from the graduate or professional school faculty are required.
The deadline for applying is Jan 1; however, early applications are encouraged since the review process begins in November/ December. Late applications will be considered on a space-available basis. Interviews will be hosted during the months of February/ March and offers will be extended during March and April. Applicants, who receive offers, must accept offers by April 15. Applications are evaluated and ranked by a faculty/ student committee. Applicants are notified of decisions regarding admission and financial support as soon as possible after the receipt of a completed application. The academic year begins first week of August. All matriculated students granted admissions receive an annual stipend of $23,000, full tuition support and a new laptop computer.
Online applications can be found at http://www.bcm.edu/gradschool/?PMID=3514. Select Neuroscience as your primary choice. If your application is chosen for the interview process, the applicants that reside in the United States are invited to attend the annual departmental retreat – The Rush and Helen Record Forum Weekend in Galveston for the interview process. International students will receive phone interviews. Approximately 8-12 students are admitted into the Neuroscience program each year
Who to Contact
Director of Graduate Studies:
Phone: 713-798-7270
Fax: 713-798-3946
Email: kdefalco@bcm.edu
For Application:
Graduate Admissions Office
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas 77030
713-798-4060
Faculty and Research
Our faculty is composed of 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 the most highly cited scientific journals with the greatest impact within the neuroscience community. For example, during the last three years alone, the combined 40 primary and secondary Neuroscience faculty have published 390 articles of which the 12 primary faculty account for 90 of those publications. Of the 90 publications from the primary faculty, 34 are in such leading highly cited journals as Science, Nature, Cell, Neuron, the Journal of Neuroscience and Annual Reviews of Neuroscience.
In addition, almost all of the Neuroscience faculty have independent research funding from the National Institutes of Health and many serve on major national advisory panels such as initial review groups at the National Institutes of Health and editorial boards of leading scientific journals.
Primary Faculty in Neuroscience
Michael C. Crair, Ph.D. Associate Professor - Department of Neuroscience Development and refinement of sensory pathways in the brain.
John A. Dani , Ph.D. Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Professor - Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Neural basis of reward, decision-making and addiction.
Mariella De Biasi, Ph.D. Associate Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Associate Professor - Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Neurobiological mechanisms of addiction in the central nervous system.
Michael J. Friedlander, Ph.D. Wilhelmina Robertson Professor and Chair - Department of Neuroscience
Director of Neuroscience Initiatives
Synaptic plasticity and development in the cerebral cortex and central visual pathways.
Fabrizio Gabbiani, Ph.D. Associate Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Adjunct Associate Professor - Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics, Rice University
Computation of sensory processing and sensorimotor transformations in the central nervous system.
Ellen A. Lumpkin, Ph.D .Assistant Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Assistant Professor - Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Assistant Professor - Department of Molecular and Human Genetics
Molecular and cellular mechanisms of mechanosensory transduction in touch and pain receptors.
P. Read Montague, Ph.D. Brown Foundation Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Professor - Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Director - Human Neuroimaging Laboratory
Computational, functional imaging and behavioral approaches to understanding human social cognition and decision-making.
Paul J. Pfaffinger, Ph.D. Associate Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Associate Professor - Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Assembly, structure, function and modulation of ion channels in excitable membranes.
Christian Rosenmund, Ph.D. Associate Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Associate Professor - Molecular and Human Genetics
Molecular steps in regulation and relase of neurotransmitter containing vesicles from presynaptic nerve terminals.
Peter Saggau, Ph.D. Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Professor - Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Adjunct Professor - Department of Bioengineering, Rice University
Biophysical and optical imaging approaches to understanding dendritic integration and excitability.
Andreas S. Tolias, Ph.D. Assistant Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Electrophysiological, computational and functional imaging approaches to processing of visual information in the cerebral cortex of alert behaving primates.
Kimberley R. Tolias, Ph.D. Assistant Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Molecular signaling pathways in structural development and plasticity of dendrites and synapses.
Secondary Faculty in Neuroscience
Anne E. Anderson, M.D. Assistant Professor - Department of Pediatrics
Assistant Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Molecular signaling cascades regulating excitability and plasticity in the immature hippocampus.
Scott F. Basinger, Ph.D. Associate Professor - Department of Ophthalmology
Associate Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Behavioral analysis of addiction.
Michael S. Beauchamp Assistant Professor – Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy – University of Texas Health Center, Houston
Adjunct Assistant Professor – Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine
Functional brain imaging analysis of visual motion perception and multi-sensory integration in humans
Hugo J. Bellen, D.V.M. Ph.D. Charles Darwin Professor in Molecular and Human Genetics
March of Dime's Professor in Developmental Biology
HHMI Investigator
Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Genetic and molecular analysis of neurotransmitter release and nervous system development in Drosophila.
William E. Brownell, Ph.D. Professor - Department of Otolaryngology
Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Adjunct Professor - Department of Bioengineering, Rice University
Hair cell signal transduction and biophysical processes of mechanical sensation.
Gary D. Clark, M.D. Associate Professor – Department of Pediatrics
Chief of Pediatric Neurology and Developmental Neuroscience
Associate Professor – Department of Neuroscience
Neural; development, learning and seizure disorders.
Gabriella D'Arcangelo, Ph.D. Assistant Professor - Department of Pediatrics
Assistant Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Genetics of early brain development, synaptic function and structure.
Stephen J.A. Davies Ph.D. Assistant Professor - Department of Neurosurgery
Assistant Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Molecular and cell biology of repairing the traumatically injured adult mammalian central nervous system.
Ronald L. Davis, Ph.D. R.P. Doherty-Welch Professor - Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Professor - Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Molecular genetic analysis of learning and memory.
Soo-Kyung Lee, Ph.D. Assistant Professor - Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Assistant Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Role of regulatory transcription networks in generating distinct neuronal classes in the spinal cord.
Graeme Mardon, Ph.D. James R. Davis Professor - Department of Pathology
Professor - Department of Molecular and Human Genetics
Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Professor - Department of Ophthalmology
Professor - Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Cross species approach to development of the eye and brain in Drosophila and mouse.
Jeffrey L. Noebels, M.D., Ph.D. Professor - Department of Neurology
Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Professor - Department of Molecular and Human Genetics
Director - Blue Bird Circle Developmental Neurogenetics Laboratory
Genetic regulation of neuronal excitability, development and seizures.
Paul A. Overbeek, Ph.D. Professor - Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Genetic analysis of retinal development, cell polarity and behavior.
Richard E. Paylor, Ph.D. Associate Professor - Department of Molecular and Human Genetics
Associate Professor – Department of Neuroscience
Mouse genetic models of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.
Tony A. Pham, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor - Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Assistant Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Assitant Professor - Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Regulation of gene expression in the forebrain by environmentally induced signaling cascades.
Claudia S. Robertson, M.D.Professor - Department of Neurosurgery
Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Medical Director - Center for Neurosurgical Intensive Care, Ben Taub General Hospital
Development of advanced neuro-monitoring techniques, functional genomics, neuroprotection and proteomics in human brain vascular injury.
Paul E. Schulz, M.D. Associate Professor – Department of Neurology
Associate Professor – Department of Neuroscience
Cognitive disorders including Alzheimer’s disease.
H. David Shine, Ph.D. Associate Professor - Department of Neurosurgery
Associate Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Associate Professor - Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Role of neurotrophic factors in central nervous system degeneration and regeneration after injury.
Janet L. Stringer, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor - Department of Pharmacology
Associate Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Mechanisms of seizure initiation in normal and epileptic brain - role of astrocytes.
John W. Swann, Ph.D. Professor - Department of Pediatrics
Director - The Gordon and Mary Cain Pediatric Neurology Research Foundation Laboratories
Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Epileptogenesis in developing neural networks
Theodore G. Wensel, Ph.D. Professor - Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Professor - Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Molecular mechanisms of regulation of G-protein coupled receptors in the retina and brain.
Samuel M. Wu, Ph.D. Professor - Department of Ophthalmology, the Camille and Raymond Hankamer Chair in Ophthalmology
Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Professor - Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Functional interactions of retinal microcircuitry.
Hui Zheng, Ph.D. Associate Professor - Huffington Center on Aging
Associate Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Associate Professor - Department of Molecular and Human Genetics
Associate Professor - Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Role of APP and presenilins in pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.
Huda Y. Zoghbi, M.D. Professor - Department of Molecular and Human Genetics
HHMI Investigator
Professor - Department of Neuroscience
Professor - Department of Neurology
Professor - Department of Pediatrics
Genetic, behavioral and cell biological studies of pathogensis of polyglutamine neurodegenerative diseases and Rett syndrome.