Overview
The LSU Health Sciences Center is located in New Orleans and Shreveport. It consists of the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, and Allied Health Professions and the School of Graduate Studies. The Department of Physiology in New Orleans offers instruction in each of these schools. The total enrollment in all schools of the Health Sciences Center is more than 2,400 students.

In addition to the Health Sciences Center, the Louisiana State University System encompasses the original campus in Baton Rouge; newer divisions in Alexandria, Eunice, and Shreveport; and the University of New Orleans. The total enrollment exceeds 58,000.

The Community
Greater New Orleans has a population of 1.4 million. In addition to its Mardi Gras and legendary French Quarter, it offers a climate suited to year-round outdoor recreation, cultural resources of every description, great restaurants, pure Dixieland jazz, the Superdome with its vast potential for spectator sports, and an Old World ambience unmatched among America's cities.

The LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans has approximately 700 medical students, 200 dental students, 535 nursing students, 400 students in allied health professions, and 150 graduate students. The number of graduate students in physiology ranges from 8 to 12, with 3 to 5 new students admitted each year. The graduate program's deliberately restricted size fosters a close student-faculty relationship.

Programs of study and degree requirements
The Department of Physiology offers programs that lead to the Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in physiology as well as a combined M.D./Ph.D. degree. The program is designed to suit the individual needs of the students and to prepare them for careers in biomedical research and/or teaching in a university setting, research institution, or industry. In order to achieve these goals, the Department of Physiology has developed areas of study that range from the molecular biology of gene expression to whole-organ function. Through interdisciplinary approaches and interactive collaboration with clinical departments, students are provided with a broad general knowledge of physiology and pathophysiology as well as in-depth training in a specialized area of their choice. Training of this nature in integrative biology prepares the student for a variety of career options.

In the first year of the Ph.D. program, students are expected to do basic course work, including some medical and graduate courses. In addition to formal course work, students are expected to explore current research programs in the department through rotations in several laboratories in order to select an area in which they will do research. Students also participate in departmental seminars and Work in Progress meetings. Dissertation research should be underway early in the second year, before the student has completed the course requirements. The second year and beyond include advanced courses that are consistent with the student's training and needs, with at least 12 semester hours in one or more minor disciplines (including biochemistry, pharmacology, and anatomy), but the student's own research occupies an increasing amount of time as the course requirements are filled. A satisfactory Ph.D. dissertation is an original research contribution of significance that deserves publication in a journal of international repute.

The Master of Science degree usually requires two years in residence. At least 30 semester hours of graduate credit and a thesis describing the candidate's own research contribution are required. In the current scientific marketplace, flexible scientists with a master's degree can obtain challenging jobs in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Areas of research in which graduate study is encouraged include cellular and molecular physiology, signal transduction, subcellular trafficking, myocardial metabolism, circulatory shock and trauma, pathophysiological states related to sepsis and alcohol intoxication, cardiovascular and exercise physiology, respiratory and cardiopulmonary physiology, neurophysiology, and neuroendocrinology.

All students are required to participate in the teaching programs of the department to prepare themselves for future academic positions.

Facilities & Resources
Most of the department's faculty members occupy laboratories and offices in the Medical Education Building, where the NIH-supported Alcohol Research Center is also located. Specialized equipment, including an electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscope (EPR), ultracentrifuges, HPLC, GLC, PCR cyclers, spectrofluorometers and spectrophotometers, gel electrophoresis, and radioanalytic imaging systems, is available in the laboratories of various faculty members. The Health Sciences Center Core Laboratories, a service facility, provides oligonucleotide and peptide synthesis and sequencing, amino acid analysis and purification, mass spectrometry, flow cytometry, and phosphorimaging. The department uses additional space in the School of Dentistry on the William Pitcher Plaza, about 4 miles away. Free bus service links the two campuses. The Kresge Hearing Research Laboratory of the South, located in the LSU Lions Eye Center, offers research opportunities in the physiology of hearing through the Department of Physiology.

Expenses and Aid
Costs
Tuition is $4245 per year for Louisiana residents and $9270 for nonresidents. In addition, activity and student health fees of about $400 per year are required.

Housing
A residence hall and recreation center for Health Sciences Center students, married or single, is located adjacent to the medical school; rentals are available on a first-come, first-served basis at costs ranging from $410 to $475 per month. A variety of off-campus accommodations is available at a wide range of prices.

Financial Aid
Assistantships and fellowships are available for Ph.D. candidates from the Department of Physiology and the School of Graduate Studies. Awards are $19,000 per year and a full-time tuition waiver.

How to Apply
Admission is based on transcripts, recommendations, and GRE scores on the General Test and the Subject Test in biology, chemistry, or physics. A letter defining the student's career goals is required as well. In addition to biology, applicants should have had calculus, physics, and chemistry through physical chemistry. Minor deficiencies may be made up after matriculation by taking approved courses at the affiliated divisions of the University of New Orleans or at any of the seven other colleges in the city. Applications should be completed by April 1 for matriculation in August or by October 1 for January admission.

Who to contact
Department of Physiology
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
1901 Perdido Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112

504-619-8541

E-mail: chorni@lsuhsc.edu

http://www.lsuhsc.edu/Schools/Graduate

THE FACULTY AND THEIR RESEARCH

• Gregory J. Bagby, Professor of Physiology, Medicine, and Physical Therapy; Ph.D., Washington State, 1976. Metabolic regulation in sepsis, trauma, and exercise; role of cytokines in host defense.
  
• Conrad A. Hornick, Professor of Physiology and Pathology; Ph.D., Hawaii, 1980. Metabolism and recycling in subcellular endocytic pathways.
  
• Jack R. Lancaster, Professor of Physiology and Medicine; Ph.D., Tennessee Health Sciences, 1974. Chemistry and biochemistry of cellularly produced nitric oxide; role of bioenergetic dysfunction in immune defense.
  
• Michael G. Levitzky, Professor of Physiology and Anesthesiology; Ph.D., Albany Medical College, 1975. Cardiopulmonary physiology; pulmonary blood flow.
  
• Samuel L. Liles, Associate Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience; Ph.D., LSU Medical Center, 1968. Neurophysiology.
  
• Kathleen H. McDonough, Professor of Physiology; Ph.D., Missouri, 1977. Myocardial function and metabolism.
  
• Michele A. Meneray, Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience; Ph.D., Colorado State, 1979. Signal transduction in exocrine secretion.
  
• Harvey Miller, Professor of Physiology; Ph.D., Hahnemann, 1961. Myocardial metabolism; experimental surgery.
  
• Patricia E. Molina, Associate Professor of Physiology; M.D., Francisco Marroquin (Guatemala), 1984; Ph.D., LSU Medical Center, 1990. CNS modulation of metabolic and inflammatory responses to stress.
  
• Tetsuo Nakamoto, Professor of Physiology; D.D.S., Nihon (Tokyo), 1964; Ph.D., MIT, 1978. Neonatal nutrition and metabolism.
  
• Johnny R. Porter, Professor of Physiology, Medicine, Neuroscience, and Pharmacology; Ph.D., LSU Medical Center, 1973. Neuroendocrinology of food intake and obesity.
  
• Barry J. Potter, Research Associate Professor of Physiology; Ph.D., London, 1975. Effects of alcohol on iron metabolism.
  
• Raymond E. Shepherd, Associate Professor of Physiology; Ph.D., Washington State, 1974. Exercise physiology.
  
• Charles H. Sloop, Professor of Physiology; Ph.D., Wake Forest, 1974. Properties of the plasma-lymph barrier.
  

Adjunct Faculty

• Charles I. Berlin, Professor of Otorhinolaryngology and Biocommunication and Physiology; Ph.D., Pittsburgh, 1958. Auditory physiology.
  
• Ashim K. Bhattacharyya, Professor of Pathology and Physiology; D.Phil., 1965, D.Sc., 1989, Calcutta. Sterol and adipose tissue fatty acid metabolism in relation to atherosclerosis.
  
• Richard P. Bobbin, Professor of Otorhinolaryngology and Biocommunication, Pharmacology, and Physiology; Ph.D., Tulane, 1969. Neurochemistry and neurophysiology using the inner ear as a model.
  
• Jimmy M. Cairo, Professor of Cardiopulmonary Science and Physiology; Ph.D., LSU Medical Center, 1986. Cardiopulmonary physiology; clinical exercise testing.
  
• Bennett P. deBoisblanc, Professor of Medicine and Physiology; M.D., LSU Medical Center, 1981. Diaphragmatic function and metabolism in endotoxemic animal models.
  
• T. Bruce Ferguson, Professor of Surgery and Physiology; M.D., Washington (St. Louis), 1979. Nitric oxide in surgical cardiovascular disease.
  
• Edward D. Frohlich, Clinical Professor of Medicine and Physiology (joint appointment with the Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation); M.D., Maryland, 1956. Hypertension, ventricular hypertrophy, and vascular physiology.
  
• Leo T. Happel, Professor of Neurology, Neurosurgery, Physiology, and Neuroscience; Ph.D., LSU Medical Center, 1972. Neurophysiology and membrane electrophysiology.
  
• S. McDonald McCann, Professor of Physiology; M.D., Pennsylvania, 1948. Neuroendocrinology.
  
• Steve Nelson, Professor of Medicine and Physiology; M.D., McGill, 1978. Infection cytokines and host defenses in normal and compromised hosts.
  
• Andrew A. Pellett, Associate Professor of Cardiopulmonary Science and Physiology; Ph.D., LSU Medical Center, 1991. Pulmonary circulation in lung injury.
  
• Duna Penn, Professor of Pediatrics and Physiology; M.D., Wayne State, 1971. Neonatal nutrition and metabolism.
  
• Moshe Solomonow, Professor of Orthopaedics and Physiology; Ph.D., California, 1976. Biomechanics and electrophysiology of motor control in health and in disease.
  
• Warren Summer, Professor of Medicine and Physiology and Chief, Section of Pulmonary Medicine; M.D., Georgetown, 1965. Pulmonary vascular physiology.
  
• Malektaj Yazdani-Kachouei, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Physiology; M.D., Esfahan (Iran), 1973. Effect of caffeine on biochemical parameters of fetal and neonatal brain.
  
• David R. York, Boyd Professor of Physiology; Ph.D., Southampton (England), 1969. Obesity, diabetes, and metabolism research.
  
  

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