Clinical-Bioanalytical Chemistry, PhD

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A joint program with the Cleveland Clinic

Department of Chemistry

Science and Research 397
(216) 687-2451
http://www.csuohio.edu/sciences/dept/chemistry/graduate/PHD/index.html

Michael Gates, Interim Chair
Yan Xu, Graduate Program Director

Programs of Study

Clinical Chemistry Specialization

Cellular and Molecular Medicine Specialization

Introduction

The Ph.D. program in Clinical/Bioanalytical Chemistry is offered jointly by Cleveland State University and the Lerner Research Institute of The Cleveland Clinic. The program is also affiliated with the Rammelkamp Center for Education and Research of the MetroHealth Medical Center of Cleveland. This unique program attracts students from all over the world. Clinical/Bioanalytical Chemistry applies the knowledge of chemistry and, in particular, chemical analysis to the study of the origins and diagnoses of diseases. Graduates of this Ph.D. program are employed in many clinical-bioanalytical settings. They become directors of clinical laboratories and research scientists in biomedical and biotechnology fields, in in vitro diagnostics, in reference and analytical laboratories, in academic institutions, and in many other settings. Because of the concentration of chemical, medical, and related industries and institutions in the Cleveland area, many graduates of this program have found fulfilling positions locally. Others have selected employment outside of the Cleveland area, including employment outside of the United States. Chemists with advanced degrees generally have a variety of career opportunities, and Cleveland State graduates are no exception. The program has outstanding faculty with whom students conduct their dissertation research. Students have the opportunity to do research with faculty and research scientists at Cleveland State, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and other medical centers. The program has more than fifty faculty members who have a broad range of research interests in disease mechanism and diagnosis, bioanalytical chemistry, biomedicine, and molecular biology. State-of-the-art facilities and advanced bioanalytical technologies are available to students in the program, including (but not limited to) mass spectrometry (including MALDI-TOF and LC-ESI-triple quadruple MS, LC-ESI-ion- trap MS), HPLC, conventional and capillary electrophoresis, immunoassays, ultracentrifugation, NMR, EPR, FTIR, absorption spectroscopy, spectrofluorometry, X-ray crystallography, molecular biology techniques, and computational chemistry and chemical imaging techniques.

Research Facilities

The Chemistry Department is housed in the Basic Science Building and the Science and Research Center. In addition to well-equipped research laboratories, there are special function rooms, such as a cold room, glass and electronic shops, a computer room, and a darkroom. Generally, graduate students occupy research space near their research advisors, which leads to frequent interaction.

Major instrumentation available in the program includes superconducting multinuclear NMR, automated X-ray diffractometer, GC-ion-trap MS, MALDITOF and LC-ESI-triple quadruple and LCESI-ion-trap mass spectrometers, capillary electrophoresis, HPLC, GCFTIR, FTIR spectrometers, UV-visible spectrophotometers, liquid scintillation counter, immunoassay instrumentation, fluorescence spectrometer, atomic absorption spectrometers, EPR, and extensive computer capabilities. Students also have ready access to the facilities and the state-of-the-art instrumentation available at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. The Cleveland State Mass Spectrometry Facility is located in the department and serves the research and service needs of Cleveland State faculty and students. Opportunities for graduate training in mass spectrometry are afforded through the facility.

Clinical Chemistry Specialization:

The doctoral degree with a Clinical Chemistry Specialization is an internationally recognized program that examines the origins, mechanisms, and diagnosis of disease. This program is currently seeking re-accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation in Clinical Chemistry. The Clinical Chemistry Ph.D. specialization is also an option within the Cellular and Molecular Medicine Ph.D. specialization for students interested in both programs. It is the responsibility of the Director of the Clinical Chemistry program to certify that doctoral students in the clinical chemistry specialization have completed the necessary course and research requirements.

Cleveland State/Cleveland Clinic Cellular and Molecular Medicine Specialization (CMMS)

Depending on their research interests, applicants to the Ph.D. program may wish to consider participation in the Cellular and Molecular Medicine Specialization, an interdisciplinary initiative linking the resources of the three Cleveland State/ Cleveland Clinic joint Ph.D. programs: Regulatory Biology, Clinical-Bioanalytical Chemistry, and Applied Biomedical Engineering. Together, these units provide unparalleled opportunities for faculty, students, and staff. The Cellular and Molecular Medicine Specialization is not an independent academic program and does not replace existing doctoral programs. Students must fulfill the requirements for their Ph.D. program.

The Cellular and Molecular Medicine Specialization forms a logical interface to coordinate collective efforts of existing programs in four ways:

by creating a significant presence in the challenging and exciting new area of Cellular and Molecular Medicine;
by establishing a critical mass of researchers around a topic of national scientific and applied medical interest;
by realizing the commitment of Cleveland State and CCF in their long-standing collaboration to become major contributors in biomedical engineering and biomedical technology; and
by expanding the existing doctoral programs beyond their present state of development

As part of its contribution to these efforts, the Cellular and Molecular Medicine Specialization makes available several graduate assistantships to allow outstanding candidates to concentrate on their research for two years.

Student and Faculty Research Examples

Ph.D. dissertation title examples:

High-Performance Ion-Exchange Chromatography of Fibrinogen and Fibrinogen Degradation Products: Domain Binding Model;
Development of Ionic Focusing HPLC: Improved Gradient Techniques
Synthetic and Structural Studies of Selected Gallium, Indium, Vanadium, and Hafnium Coordination Compounds
Analysis of DNA Using MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry
Fluorometric Detection of Biological S-Nitrosothiols
Molecular Modeling Studies of Peptide and Protein Systems
Development of Capillary Electrophoretic Enzyme Immunoassay and Enzyme Microassay
Development of LC/MS Methods for the PK & PD Studies of Drugs
Mass Spectrometric Studies of the Inhibition of SHV-1 Beta-Lactamases
Structural Studies of Integrin Mediated Signaling by NMR

Current faculty information can be located on the Cleveland State University Faculty Profile page.

Career Information

Graduates of the Ph.D. program go on to a variety of professional positions in the clinical-bioanalytical field, some pursuing postdoctoral studies before obtaining their first professional position. Examples of positions held by Ph.D. graduates include:

Director, SmithKline Beecham Reference Laboratory
Vice President, Operations/Quality Assurance, Laboratory Corporation of America
Research Scientist, Boehringer Mannheim
Director, St. Thomas Hospital Laboratory
Postdoctoral Fellow, Lerner Research Institute, The Cleveland Clinic
Postdoctoral Fellow, National Institutes of Health
Postdoctoral Fellow in Clinical Chemistry, Mayo Clinic Foundation
Director, Lipid/Lipoprotein Laboratory, Mayo Clinic
Group Leader, Lederle Pharmaceutical
Associate Professor, Old Dominion University
Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Research Scientist, Amgen
Associate Professor, Medical Technology, University of Wisconsin
President, Medical Specialties, Inc.
Associate Professor, Center for Macromolecular Crystallography, University of Alabama
Postdoctoral Fellow, Genentech, Inc.
President, Alpha Omega Chemical Co.
Associate Director, Bioanalytical R&D, Wyeth Research
Vice President, Quality and Business Effectiveness, Quest Diagnostics
Contract Projects Officer, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Financial Assistance

Graduate assistantships are available on a competitive basis. They include tuition support and a stipend during the academic year. Students who are awarded teaching assistantships are required to teach classes. After two consecutive semesters of teaching, students holding teaching assistantships may be eligible for a summer term of financial support. Non-native English-speaking students who are awarded teaching assistantships may not be assigned direct instructional activities until they have been assessed and certified as proficient in spoken English.

Research assistantships also are available, depending on external funding.

Admission Information

Students who wish to enter the Clinical/ Bioanalytical Ph.D. program must meet the requirements of the College of Graduate Studies and Department of Chemistry for admission to the chemistry graduate program as detailed below.

In addition to meeting the College of Graduate Studies requirements for admission, applicants for graduate study (Master’s and Ph.D.) in chemistry must have had one year of general, organic, analytical, and physical chemistry; a year of physics; and mathematics through partial derivatives and multiple integrals. Applicants lacking any of these requirements may be admitted, but any deficiency must be made up as soon as possible. Credits earned in remedial courses do not count toward degree requirements.

Typically, chemistry applicants are required to submit an official report of their performance on both the aptitude and chemistry subject area tests from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) to the University by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). However, applicants with outstanding records (grade-point average above 3.0 in addition to other evidence of solid preparation) may request that this requirement be waived by the Graduate Committee of the Chemistry Department. The GRE requirement cannot be waived for international students. International students who do not have a degree from an institution in the United States must also arrange to have the results of their performance on the TOEFL sent to the University by ETS.

For applicants requesting financial support, the application deadline each year is January 15. Submit all materials to the Graduate Admissions Office, Main Classroom, Room 116. (International applicants submit materials to the Center for International Services and Programs, Main Classroom, Room 116).

Apply Now: http://www.csuohio.edu/gradcollege/admissions/apply.html

Ph.D. Candidacy

Graduate students are required to register for the Ph.D. Candidacy Examination at the beginning of their third year of graduate studies. The examination consists of the preparation of an acceptable, written, fully referenced proposal, describing the student’s research plans and an oral presentation and committee examination. Successful performance in the candidacy examination qualifies the student to be a Ph.D. candidate in Clinical/Bioanalytical Chemistry. Students who do not pass the Ph.D. Candidacy Examination can not advance to doctoral studies, but may pursue a Thesis-based M.S. degree if approved by research advisor and the director of the graduate program.

Ph.D. Degree Completion Requirements

Clinical/Bioanalytical Chemistry Ph.D. students are required to complete at least twenty-eight credit hours of graduate courses (separate from Ph.D. Dissertation credits) with at least one course from each of three broadly defined areas of chemistry and at least two credit hours in a Chemistry Seminar. The student’s advisor may require other courses and/or more than twenty-eight credit hours of course work.

Graduate students also are required to register for the Ph.D. Dissertation course when conducting research and to successfully write and defend a dissertation. The primary objective of Ph.D. candidacy is the completion of a major research project under the direction of the student’s doctoral advisor(s). Once the project is completed, the student must write a dissertation describing the project (prepared in the format prescribed by the College of Graduate Studies and acceptable to the student’s dissertation committee) and publicly defend the research and the written dissertation. The time required for the completion of the research and the defense of the resulting dissertation cannot be predicted in any individual case. Ph.D. students must complete at least ninety credit hours of graduate study before becoming eligible for graduation.

Exit Requirements

Ph.D. students must complete at least ninety credit hours of approved course work (including CHM 899 - Ph.D. Dissertation ) and successfully defend a doctoral dissertation.