Marshall University’s health sciences graduate programs take an interdisciplinary approach. Faculty within the Department of Biomedical Sciences are organized into research clusters. Through these research clusters, faculty form collaborations that enhance both their research and the experience of graduate students. The clusters are derived from the key areas of faculty research expertise and are available to both MS and PhD degree students (but are not applicable to students in the medical sciences area of emphasis).

Students are required to rotate through a minimum of three laboratories during their first year. By way of this process, students will select a laboratory in which to conduct their dissertation research, learn new techniques and establish a network for future collaboration. Once a lab is selected, the lab principal investigator will be the student’s advisor, and the advisory committee will be composed of at least five faculty members with appropriate expertise.

Research Clusters

Cardiovascular Disease Research Cluster (CDRC)
Coordinator, Nalini Santanam, PhD, MPH, FAHA

Cell Biology Research Cluster (CBRC)
Coordinator, Sandrine Pierre, PhD

Obesity and Related Diseases Research Cluster (ORDRC)
Coordinator, Jung Han Kim, PhD

Neurobiology of Addiction Reseach Cluster (NARC)
Coordinator, Brandon Henderson, PhD

Toxicology and Environmental Health Research Cluster (TEHRC)
Coordinator, Monica Valentovic, PhD