Department of Physiology and Biophysics

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Current Students

Teaching is a major component of life in the Physiology & Biophysics Department. Faculty participate in a variety of courses in different departments and programs. See below for a listing of courses in which Physiology & Biophysics Department faculty play integral roles. An important departmental offering for graduate students, Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, uses as a text the book From Neuron to Brain, which is authored by current or former faculty members Bob Martin, Bruce Wallace, and Paul Fuchs, and by John Nicholls (Trieste).

Our faculty also play key roles in the new medical school curriculum. Teaching efforts are recognized by students and the Administration, who have presented Physiology & Biophysics faculty members with numerous teaching awards.

In addition to the courses listed below, students have access to a variety of courses accross the Anschutz Medical Campus.

COURSE OFFERINGS

PHSL 6001 Human Physiology
(4.0 cr, Celia Sladek, Course Director)
This course in Physiology is designed to provide an understanding of the functions of cells, tissues and organs in the human body and the overall integration of organ functions in the body as a whole.

NRSC 7600 Cellular & Molecular Neurobiology
(3.0 cr, Bill Sather, Course Director.)
Topics include ion channel structure and function, ionic basis of the resting and action potential, and the biochemistry and physiology of direct and indirect synaptic transmission.

NRSC 7610 Fundamentals of Neurobiology
(4.0 cr, Tom Finger, Course Director)
This course will provide basic knowledge on the structure and function of the nervous system. The lectures will be supplemented by discussion of primary research literature in neurobiology.

NRSC 7615 Developmental Neurobiology
(3.0 cr, Angie Ribera, Course Co-Director)
This course will cover fundamental principles regarding development of the nervous system. The format of the course will consist of lecture plus reading of primary literature.

IDPT 7801 Biomedical Sciences Core Course 1
(3.3 cr., Various faculty)
Unified presentation of fundamental principles of biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, and molecular biology.

PHSL 7840 Advanced Topics in Cell Signaling
(1.0 cr., Nathan Schoppa, Course Director)
A New concept in graduate education: Students select topics of interest in the area of cell signaling and receive one-on-one instruction from expert faculty. Each one-credit topic will be taught for 5 weeks. Course work will include reading and discussing papers, as well as practical exercises. Click here for details.

PHSL 7650 Research in Physiology and Biophysics (By arrangement)

PHSL 8990 Doctoral Thesis (By arrangement)

NRSC 7675 Applied Neuroethics
(1.0 cr., Sukumar V., Course Co-Director)

PHSL 7650
1-3 credits

Students must complete rotations in three different laboratories within the first year (Fall through Summer). Each rotation is graded. To arrange a rotation, each student should discuss potential projects with the prospective advisor and the student and advisor should come to a mutual decision. Because these rotations are the primary means for each student to become acquainted with the range of techniques, scientific interests, administrative styles, and personalities that our department has to offer, the selection of a rotation lab each quarter should be a systematic process. Students are encouraged to gain a wide exposure to the Department, by doing rotations in diverse areas of research. Students are responsible for informing the departmental office of the lab in which rotations will be conducted at the beginning of each term as part of the registration process. Failure to do so could result in no credit for the term. Students will not be allowed to join a lab for their thesis work without having completed a rotation in that lab. At the completion of each rotation, the rotation advisor will grade the students' performance and provide an oral/written assessment to the student. The grade should be submitted to the Department Office and becomes part of the student's academic record.

For foreign students, the first rotation starts towards the end of the Fall semester. This is to allow the student to acclimatize to differences in culture and teaching methods without the additional burden of a lab rotation. Instead, the first year students will ‘rotate’ through all faculty labs for a week at a time in order to familiarize themselves with the research carried out. Therefore, the third rotation for a foreign student falls during the summer semester.

	Otto Albrecht Physiology graduate student with Achim Klug
	Vanessa Carmean Neuroscience student with Angeles Ribera
	Alexander Ferber MSTP Neuroscience graduate student with Dan Tollin
	Chris Knoeckel MSTP Neuroscience graduate student with Angeles Ribera
	Eric Larson Physiology graduate student with Cathy Proenza
	Tara Martin MSTP Neuroscience graduate student with Angeles Ribera
	Florian Mayer Physiology graduate student with Achim Klug
	Pirooz Parsa Physiology graduate student with Sukumar Vijayaraghavan
	Joshua St. Clair Physiology graduate student with Cathy Proenza
	Joe Zak Physiology graduate student with Nathan Schoppa