Arizona State University is launching two new bioscience graduate programs in the spring semester of 2008, both of which will capitalize on the increasingly intertwined domains of industry and university-based scientific research.
The first of these programs will grant a doctoral degree in biological design, jointly issued by the Biodesign Institute at ASU, the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Although students will have a two-semester core course sequence to ensure intensive training in particularly important bio-related areas, the balance of their coursework may be selected from a host of academic areas campus-wide.
“The Biological Design Ph.D. program will allow students to apply their core expertise to multi-disciplinary projects, while providing them with the skills they need to work with scientists and engineers from other disciplines,” said Trevor Thornton, professor of engineering and a member of the new program’s executive committee.
Some 100 faculty have been identified from various disciplines to serve as students’ mentors. The program expects to enroll 15 students per year; students who are accepted will receive a highly competitive stipend, plus full tuition reimbursement and healthcare benefits. Underwriting such expenses will be funding from the state Technology Research Infrastructure Fund, Science Foundation Arizona, and individual investigator research grants.
The second program to be initiated in January is a graduate-level certificate in clinical-research management (CRM), to be granted by the College of Nursing and Healthcare Innovation’s Center for Healthcare Innovation and Clinical Trials. The 15-credit certificate, aimed at working nurses and healthcare professionals, will be presented primarily online, allowing students from around the state to participate.
The CRM certificate, which will initially enroll a maximum of 25 students, is intended to deliver training in clinical-research business and financial practices; ethical and regulatory aspects of research; and overall management of clinical drug, biological, and medical-device trials. The capstone of the program is a three-credit clinical-research project.
In addition to preparing students for professional employment as managers of clinical research projects in industry or university settings, coursework in the certificate program will be transferable to a master’s degree program in clinical research management that is slated to begin enrolling students for the 2009 spring semester.
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