| Biological Sciences in Public Health |
The Biological Sciences in Public Health
(BPH) Program, leading to the PhD degree, is located at Harvard School
of Public Health and is offered through the Faculty of Arts and
Sciences of Harvard University.
Programs and DisciplinesBIOLOGICAL SCIENCES IN PUBLIC HEALTH (BPH) PROGRAMMolecular & Integrative Physiological Sciences, including pulmonary inflammation, pneumonia and asthma toxicity and pathophysiology of air pollution bioengineering, biophysics Molecular Mechanisms of Adaptive Responses to Stress
IMMUNOLOGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES Immunology Nutritional Biochemistry
Students apply cutting-edge technology to the solution of world-wide problems with a focus toward better treatment and prevention of human diseases. It has become increasingly evident that progress in disease prevention is optimally promoted by a close interaction between epidemiologists and laboratory scientists, where laboratory discoveries and epidemiological observations interact in an iterative manner to advance research in both fields.
This program includes faculty from the school’s Departments of Genetics and Complex Diseases, Environmental Health, Immunology and Infectious Diseases and Nutrition, in addition to faculty at Harvard Medical School and other Harvard associated institutions. This interdisciplinary program fosters a stimulating and supportive environment for research training in the biomedical sciences.
The BPH program is rooted in the rich and diverse environment of the Harvard School of Public Health, which is dedicated to advancing the public’s health through learning, discovery, and communication. The School’s research and training programs emphasize the following objectives: • to provide the highest level of education to public health scientists, practitioners, and leaders;
From advancing scientific discovery to training national and international leaders, the Harvard School of Public Health has been at the forefront of efforts to benefit the health of populations worldwide. Shaping new ideas in our field and communicating them effectively will continue to be priorities in the years ahead as we serve society’s changing health needs.
Founded in 1922, the Harvard School of Public Health was the nation’s first graduate training program in public health. Early pioneers at the school included Alice Hamilton, who elucidated the health effects of lead and other industrial toxins; Philip Drinker, whose iron lung sustained the lives of many stricken with paralytic polio; Thomas Weller, whose Nobel Prize-winning research paved the way for the development of polio vaccines; and Bernard Lown, co-founder of the Nobel Prize-winning organization International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Research Facilities
Located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, the program brings together faculty in the biological sciences throughout Harvard University. The Medical Area, which includes the Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School, and a cluster of hospitals, comprises one of the most concentrated areas of scientific research facilities in the United States. The interaction of faculty working at associated institutions, through joint teaching and research, enables the program to serve as a meeting place for the biological, medical, physical, and chemical scientists. This provides students and faculty alike with a wider range of experience and techniques than may be found in any single discipline or department.
At the Harvard School of Public Health alone, modern research laboratories are housed on 14 floors of three buildings. Students have access to the Countway Library, one of the most complete biomedical research collections in the nation.
The main Harvard University campus in Cambridge encompasses a wide variety of strong academic departments and facilities in the humanities and sciences. The program specifically interacts with the biological sciences programs in molecular and cellular biology, organismic and evolutionary biology, and biophysics. Program of Study
The program offers opportunities in a wide range of laboratory experiences and considerable interaction among the program components. Academic programs fulfill needs and goals through core and advanced courses, seminars, rotations in laboratories, and a qualifying examination. Courses may be chosen from the offerings of Harvard University as well as from those of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Rotations are an integral part of each program; they allow students to investigate several types of research and laboratories before choosing a dissertation laboratory. Students choose a dissertation laboratory by the end of the first year.
Although individual programs vary, generally students take a qualifying examination during their second year. After successful completion of the qualifying examination, the dissertation advisor supervises the doctoral candidate’s research and study, with an advisory committee periodically reviewing progress. Typically, about four years of laboratory work are needed to complete the dissertation research, which is defended before three examiners. Generally, students complete the degree in five to six years. The Informal Curriculum
Outside of the classroom, the program sponsors a variety of activities that bring together students and faculty with a broad range of research interests. Important elements of this “informal curriculum” are the seminars, journal clubs, and retreats. These sessions give students the chance to interact with faculty and postdoctoral fellows from laboratories throughout the Medical Area, and to learn about research in diverse fields. Student-run journal clubs and seminars provide opportunities to learn how to give talks, critically evaluate scientific literature, present data, and take part in group discussions. Each year students organize their own symposium with talks and poster sessions. City-wide seminars draw researchers from all area institutions into a larger scientific community. Some students serve for at least one term as teaching assistants for graduate and medical school classes, or for undergraduate courses taught in Cambridge. Student organizations plan various social and academic activities. Combined Degree Programs
The program, in conjunction with Harvard Medical School, offers a combined MD/PhD program to train physician-scientists to work at the forefront of biomedical research and to provide an interface between the most basic and technical research and its clinical application at the bedside. The program seeks to provide students with the most thorough and up-to-date medical education and training for research careers. Students who are interested in working toward simultaneous MD and PhD degrees should complete the application for admission to Harvard Medical School and the MD/PhD Program. Admissions
To apply to the PhD Program in Biological Sciences in Public Health (program #8500), Graduate School of Arts and Sciences admissions forms must be used. Completed applications must be submitted directly to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences by the December 8 deadline. We encourage online submission of the application. See www.gsas.harvard.edu. (To apply for all other degrees [SD, DPH, MPH, SM, MOH] offered by the Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard School of Public Health admissions forms must be used. Completed applications must be submitted to the School of Public Health by the designated deadline.)
To qualify for admission, applicants must demonstrate strong enthusiasm and ability for the vigorous pursuit of scientific knowledge. Minimal requirements include a bachelor’s degree and undergraduate preparation in calculus, physics, biology, and chemistry, both physical and organic. Strong consideration is given to letters of recommendation, particularly to comments from individuals who have firsthand knowledge of the applicant’s research experience. Some programs may request a personal interview.
A completed application includes the application form, fee, statement of purpose, summary form, three letters of recommendation, scores from the Graduate Record Examination (General Test), and transcripts. Applicants whose native language is not English and who have not received a degree from an English language institution must score at least 600 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). All materials, including letters of recommendation and official reports of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), must be received by the December 7 deadline. GRE tests should be taken no later than November for official scores to arrive in time.
Applicants wishing to do research in immunology & infectious diseases; genetic and molecular mechanisms of chronic diseases (cancer, diabetes, obesity); nutritional biochemistry; bioengineering or molecular & integrative physiology usually apply to the Biological Sciences in Public Health (BPH) program.
In addition to the programs described here, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offers the Harvard Integrated Live Science (HILS) Programs: Academic areas represent the depth and breadth of current thinking in the life sciences. Each of the HILS program provides research opportunities in basic life sciences. HILS supports programs leading to the PhD in: • biological and biomedical sciences (an umbrella program that covers multiple disciplines)
Academic benefits include full access to faculty throughout the University—approximately 500 life sciences faculty—and to training resources of the entire University: abundant opportunities to participate in new interdisciplinary areas of study as they develop; freedom to move among programs, subject to specific program requirements and lab availability; integrated research opportunities, including seminars with top faculty and workshops.
Harvard University’s policy is to make decisions on the basis of the individual’s qualifications to contribute to Harvard’s educational objectives and institutional needs. It is unlawful, and contrary to Harvard University policy, to discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, national or ethnic origin, political beliefs, veteran status, or disability unrelated to job or course of study requirements. Financial Aid and Cost of Study
Students receive full tuition and stipend support while they are enrolled and making satisfactory progress toward the PhD degree. International applicants are urged to seek financial support from their national governments and fellowship agencies. Limited international student funding is available from the University’s Presidential Fund and corporate- sponsored fellowships awarded to Harvard for students from developing central African countries. The program strongly encourages applicants to apply for support from extramural agencies. Students who receive competitively funded extramural fellowships may be eligible to receive an educational allowance from the division. Life in Boston
The Harvard School of Public Health is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, across the Charles River from Cambridge. The two cities offer a geographically compact, yet rich and varied academic and cultural environment. Forty-three colleges and universities in the metropolitan area sponsor a multitude of cultural and intellectual activities, all easily accessible via public transportation. The close proximity to MIT, the natural science departments in Cambridge, and the medical schools at Boston University and Tufts University provides an unusual concentration of scientific research that draws visiting scientists from around the world. The main Harvard campus in Cambridge supports a wide variety of facilities for athletics and graduate student activities. Students have access to all the libraries of Harvard University, which is the largest university library system in the world.
In addition to a long list of renowned institutions, such as the Museum of Science and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston itself is a museum, with hundreds of historical sites and an exciting range of architectural styles as well as ethnically diverse neighborhoods offering an international flavor.
Recreational opportunities in the Boston area are many and varied. Sports fans can follow the Patriots, Bruins, Celtics, or the Red Sox—Fenway Park is only a short walk from Harvard Medical School. Within the city, the Charles River offers an afternoon of sailing and windsurfing, while the network of parks known as the “Emerald Necklace” winds its way from Kenmore Square, through Olmsted Park and past Jamaica Pond to the 265-acre Arnold Arboretum, which is both a city park and a Harvard research facility. Walden Pond and the Great Meadows Wildlife Refuge in Concord are within biking distance. The beaches of Cape Cod, and skiing, hiking,and camping in the Berkshires, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are accessible in day trips. The Longwood Medical Area
Immediately adjacent to the Harvard School of Public Health, are the Harvard Medical School, the Countway Medical Library, one of the most complete biomedical research -collections in the country, and the research laboratories of seven affiliated hospitals and institutes. A free shuttle bus links the area with MIT and Harvard Square in Cambridge. Many students live near the Medical School or in neighboring Brookline; others find affordable housing elsewhere in Boston or in Cambridge. Harvard University provides dormitories for married students and graduate students in Cambridge. University housing is also available for single students in Vanderbilt Hall in the Medical Area, along with athletic facilities and a branch of the Harvard University Health Services. The Harvard School of Public Health houses the program offices as well as a graduate student lounge and computer facilities. Programs and Disciplines
The department-affiliated BPH program components at the Harvard School of Public Health are described below. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Bioengineering
This concentration integrates a range of scientific disciplines, including physics, bioengineering, physiology, biomathematics, cell biology, molecular biology, clinical science, and epidemiology. By working within this rich interdisciplinary environment, students learn many measurement technologies, discover a variety of disciplinary approaches, and develop mature scientific thinking. Special facilities are available, including a confocal microscope, analytical electron microscopes, a flow cytometer, a sleep laboratory, and a sensation laboratory.
The program is designed to prepare students for research careers in respiratory physiology, cell and molecular biology, or bioengineering. Graduates ordinarily assume positions as faculty members and research scientists in graduate schools, medical schools, research institutes, or schools of public health. Career opportunities in the biological sciences as they apply to public health are expected to grow in academia and in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. GENETICS AND COMPLEX DISEASES
The complex interplay of biological processes with environmental factors as they apply to chronic, multigenic, and multifactorial diseases is the focus of the new Department of Genetics and Complex Diseases. Department faculty, drawn from the former Department of Cancer Cell Biology and the Department of Nutrition, aim to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the intricate interaction between genetic determinants and their divergent responses to environmental signals to affect the health of human populations.
Research focuses on several broad categories, including stress and inflammatory signaling, molecular transport, and genomic instability. The diseases under study include obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and aging, both at the mechanistic level and in the context of population studies. Department faculty are involved in multidisciplinary collaborations with faculty members in other HSPH departments and Harvard-affiliated centers as well as other institutions. IMMUNOLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES
The Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases focuses on the biological, immunological, epidemiological, and ecological aspects of viral, bacterial, protozoan, and helminthic diseases of animals and humans and the vectors that transmit some of these infectious agents.
Research in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases emphasizes basic pathogenic mechanisms that may lead to better diagnostic tools, the development of vaccines and other immune interventions for prevention and control of infection and disease, and the identification of new targets for antiviral and antiparasite drugs. Laboratory-based research within the school may be supplemented by field-based studies of epidemi-ological and ecological aspects of infectious disease transmission and control. Diseases of developing countries are emphasized.
Members of the department take a multi-disciplinary approach to infectious diseases, which includes immunology, molecular biology, public health entomology, cell biology and ultrastructure, biochemistry, pathology, virology, epidemiology, and ecology. They undertake research both within the school and around the world.
Infectious diseases currently under study by these methods include protozoa (malaria, leishmania, ameba, giardia); helminths (schistosomes, filaria, onchocerca); viruses (HIVs, hepatitis, leukemia retroviruses, and eastern equine encephalitis); and bacteria (Lyme disease agents, ehrlichia, and tuberculosis). Further immunologic studies focus on genetic regulation of the immune response; molecular mechanisms of the regulation of class II genes; the function and regulation of T-cell-derived cytokines; and cytokines involved in the regulation of inflammation. NUTRITION
The mission of the Department of Nutrition is to improve human health through enhanced nutrition. The department strives to accomplish this goal through research aimed at improved understanding of how diet influences health, the dissemination of new knowledge about nutrition to health professionals and the public, the development of strategies to enhance nutrition, and the education of researchers and practitioners.
The Department of Nutrition provides training and research opportunities in basic science relating to nutrition and in epidemiologic aspects of nutrition as they affect public health. Nutrition policy and the evaluation of nutritional interventions are long-standing interests of the department, particularly as they concern the populations of Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the United States. Interests of the department range from molecular biology to human studies of cancer and heart disease. Students learn and use the latest techniques in biochemistry, physiology, biostatistics, epidemiology, and related fields. Departmental research, whether basic or applied, is relevant to human health.
Current research covers a wide range of topics, including large prospective studies of dietary factors in relation to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and ophthalmologic disease; development of methods to assess nutritional status by an analysis of body tissue; the interaction of nutritional factors with genetic determinants of disease; the interaction of nutritional factors and infectious agents; nutritional influence on blood pressure; effects of nutrition programs on the mental and physical consequences of malnutrition; nutritional determinants of blood lipid factors; lipoprotein metabolism; molecular mechanisms of diabetes and obesity and regulation of the intra- and inter-cellular delivery of macromolecular nutrients; determinants of blood lipid factors, lipoprotein metabolism; molecular mechanisms of diabetes and obesity; regulation of the intra-and-inter-cellular delivery of macromolecular nutrients; and the molecular mechanisms leading to atherosclerosis and thrombosis.
Graduates ordinarily assume positions as faculty members and research scientists in graduate schools, medical schools, research institutes or schools of public health. Career opportunities in the biological sciences as they apply to public health are expected to grow in academia and in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Important Addresses and Numbers
Information, program brochures, and application booklets may be requested from any of the following sources. Program Addresses
Online application submissions are encouraged using the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences application form found.
To request hard copy of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences application form, please visit the website .
Office of Admissions and Financial Aid
Applicants with specific questions about the program may contact Mrs. Ruth Kenworthy, administrator, Division of Biological Sciences. Biological Sciences in Public Health Program Office
Note: Graduate School of Arts and Sciences admissions forms must be used to apply for this program and must be submitted directly to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences by the December 7 deadline. Addresses for Constituent Departments at Harvard School of Public Health:Genetics and Complex Diseases Environmental Health/Physiology
Immunology and Infectious Diseases Nutrition
MD/PhD Program
Additional, Related Programs at Harvard UniversityAdmissions Office
For the PhD in Biophysics or Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Office of Admissions and Financial Aid
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Outside Harvard InformationGraduate Record Examinations (GRE)
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) PROGRAM IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES IN PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAM COMPONENTS:
Genetics and Complex Diseases (GCD) <EH>
Immunology and Infectious Diseases (IMI) <IMI> Immunology
Nutrition (NUT) <NUT/BC> Nutritional Biochemistry
ASSOCIATED HARVARD INSTITUTIONS OF BPH FACULTY(DFCI) Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Faculty
Barry R. Bloom PhD, Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, HSPH <IMI>(BPH)
Joseph David Brain SDHYG, Cecil K. and Philip Drinker Professor of Environmental Physiology in the Faculty of Public Health, HSPH <EH>(BPH)
Barbara Burleigh PhD, Associate Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, HSPH <IMI>(BPH)
Hannia Campos PhD, Senior Lecturer on Nutrition, HSPH <NUT/BC>(BPH)
David Christopher Christiani MD, Professor of Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology; Professor of Medicine, HSPH <EH>(BPH)
Bruce Demple PhD, Professor of Toxicology, HSPH <GCD>(BPH)
Douglas Dockery, DSc Professor of Environmental Epidemiology, HSPH < EH> (BPH)
Manoj Duraisingh PhD, Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, HSPH (BPH, IID)
Raymond Erikson PhD, American Cancer Society Professor of Cellular and Developmental Biology, HU (BPH, IMI/V)
Myron E. Essex DVM, PhD, Mary Woodard Lasker Professor of Health Sciences, HSPH <IMI/V>(BPH, IMI/V)
Sarah Fortune MD, Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, HSPH <IID> (BPH-IMI)
Thomas O. Fox PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Neurology, HMS
Jeffrey J. Fredberg PhD, Professor of Bioengineering and Physiology, HSPH <EH> (BPH)
Laurie H. Glimcher MD, Professor of Medicine, BWH; Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology, HSPH <IMI>(BPH, IMI)
Marcia B. Goldberg MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, HMS <IMI>(BPH, IMI)
Beatiz Gonzalez-Flecha PhD, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and Environmental Health, HSPH <EH>(BPH)
Michael Grusby PhD, Professor of Molecular Immunology in the Faculty of -Public Health, Professor of Medicine, HSPH <IMI>(BPH, IMM)
Donald Alfred Harn Jr. PhD, Professor of Tropical Public Health in the Faculty of Public Health, Assistant Professor of Medicine, HMS <IMI/PI>(BPH, IMM)
S. Gokhan Hotamisligil MD, PhD, James Stevens Simmons Professor of Genetics and Metabolism, HSPH <GCD> (BPH)
David J. Hunter MB, BS, MPH, ScD, Professor of Epidemiology, HSPH <NUT/EPI> (BPH) Cancer epidemiology; molecular epidemiology.
Phyllis Jean Kanki DVM, DSc, Professor of Pathobiology in the Faculty of Public Health, HSPH <IMI/V>(BPH)
Karl T. Kelsey MD, Professor of Cancer Biology and Environmental Health, HSPH <EH> (BPH)
David M. Knipe PhD, Professor of Micro-biology and Molecular Genetics, HMS Mechanisms by which herpes simplex virus (HSV)
Lester Kobzik MD, Associate Professor of Pathology, Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Physiology, BWH <EH>(BPH)
Roberto G. Kolter PhD, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, HMS <BPH/BBS>(BBS)
Igor Kramnik MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Immunology, HSPH<IMI>(BPH)
Chih-Hao Lee, Assistant Professor of Genetics & Complex Diseases (HSPH).
Tun-Hou Lee B.PH, DSc, Professor of Virology, HSPH <IMI>
Marc Lipsitch Dphil, Professor of Epidemiology, HSPH <EPI>(BPH)
Brendan D. Manning, Assistant Professor of Genetics & Complex Diseases (HSPH).
Matthias Marti Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, HSPH <IID> (BPH-IMI)
Joseph P. Mizgerd DSc, Associate Professor of Physiology and Cell Biology, HSPH <EH> (BPH)
Karl Munger PhD, Professor of Pathology, HMS (BBS, BPH, VIR)
Bjorn R. Olsen MD, PhD, Hersey Professor of Cell Biology, HMS (BBS, BPH)
Eric J.Rubin MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, HSPH <IID> (BPH)
Frank Martin Sacks MD, Professor of Medicine, HMS, Professor of Medicine, HSPH <NUT/BC>(BPH)
Stephanie Ann Shore PhD, Senior Lecturer of Physiology in the Faculty of Public Health, HSPH <EH>(BPH)
Thomas J. Smith PhD, Professor and Director of Industrial Hygiene, HSPH <EH/Industrial Hygiene> (BPH)
Joseph G. Sodroski MD, Professor in the Department of Cancer Biology in the Faculty of Public Health, Professor of Pathology, DFCI (BPH, IMM, VIR)
Bruce M. Spiegelman PhD, Professor of Cell Biology, DFCI (BBS, BPH)
Marianne Wessling-Resnick PhD, Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry, HSPH <GCD> (BPH, BBS)
Walter C. Willett MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, BWH; Fredrick Stare Professor
Dyann F. Wirth PhD, Professor of Tropical Public Health, HSPH (BPH, BBS)
Zhi-Min Yuan MD, PhD, James Stevens Simmons Associate Professor of Radiobiology, HSPH <GCD>(BPH) Recent Dissertation Topics
“Viral Determinants of Attenuated Pathogenicity in HIV-2 Infection”
“Humoral Immune Response Correlates of Attenuated HIV-2 Pathogenesis”
“Essential Cell Division Enzymes of Myobacteria Implications on Resuscitation from Dormancy”
“Human Papillomavirus in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.”
“Characterization of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 GP120 Interaction with the CCR5 Chemokine Coreceptor “
“Molecular Basis of Coordination of Adipocyte Metabolic and Inflammatory Responses”
“Molecular mechanisms of manganese transport in the lungs”
“Mechanisms underlying genetic diversity in malaria parasites”
“Heterotypic cell interactions between stress-induced prematurely senescent mammary stroma and neighboring epithelial cells in aging and breast cancer” |