A joint program with the Cleveland Clinic
Department of Chemistry
Science and Research 397
(216) 687-2451
https://artsandsciences.csuohio.edu/chemistry/phd-program-in-clinicalbioanalytical-chemistry
Dr. Michael Kalafatis, Chair
Dr. Xue Long Sun, Graduate Program Director
Programs of Study
- General Clinical-Bioanalytical Chemistry Track
- Clinical-Bioanalytical Chemistry with Cellular & Molecular Medicine Specialization
- Clinical-Bioanalytical Chemistry in Clinical Chemistry Track
Introduction
The doctoral degree program in Clinical-Bioanalytical Chemistry is offered jointly by Cleveland State University (CSU) and the Cleveland Clinic. The program has a strong and unique focus on clinical and biomedical areas but is also versatile enough to serve students in the other traditional areas of chemistry. Its location in the Cleveland area benefits from the high concentration of world-renowned medical facilities, biomedical industries, and traditional chemical industries. There are three doctoral tracks which students can pursue: 1) the General Clinical-Bioanalytical track; 2) the Accredited Graduate Certificate in Clinical Chemistry track and the Cellular and Molecular Medicine Specialization.
Research
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 and the Cleveland Clinic. The program has over fifty faculty members at Cleveland State and the Cleveland Clinic who have a broad range of research interests. Cleveland State chemistry faculty undertake research in areas including: mass spectrometry, HPLC, biomedical imaging, biosensors, nanotechnology, biomaterials, computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry, coagulation biochemistry, protein chemistry, microarrays, molecular biology, chemical biology , cancer biochemistry, metabolomics, proteomics, glycomics, lipidomics and pharmacokinetics, therapeutics, chemical synthesis and other areas. Faculty at the Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic undertake basic biomedical research in multiple areas, as reflected by the various departments in the institute: biomedical engineering, cancer biology, cardiovascular and metabolic sciences, genomic medicine, inflammation and immunity, neurosciences, ophthalmic research, and translational hematology and oncology research.
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 and several instrumental centers. Generally, graduate students occupy research space near their research advisors, which leads to frequent interaction. State-of-the-art facilities and advanced bioanalytical technologies are available to students in the program, including (but not limited to) LC-mass spectrometry (including AB SCIEX QTRAP® 5500 LC MS/MS and Agilent 6545 LC/Q-TOF, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, high performance liquid chromatography, conventional and capillary electrophoresis, immunoassays, nuclear magnetic resonance, electron parametric resonance spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, photo diode array UV-visible and fluorometric spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy, molecular biology techniques, computational chemistry and chemical imaging techniques.
Student and Faculty Research Examples
Ph.D. dissertation title examples:
- An LC-MS/MS approach for gangliosides profiling in brain and retinal tissue of mice: application to glaucoma mice age studies
- Application of polarity models to characterizing the reversed-phase liquid chromatography separation of chiral steroid isomer pairs employing various ternary mobile phases
- Development of analytical methods for markers of mitochondrial dysfunction with application to biological samples
- Proteoglycan dysregulation in thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection
- A novel potential approach in the treatment of glioblastoma: Targeting Heat Shock 27k Da Protein induces androgen receptor degradation
- Ruthenium oxide based combined electrodes as nitric oxide (NO) sensors: towards measuring NO in cystic fibrosis cell line models
- Determination of novel metabolites of therapeutic agents used in the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer
- Biomimetic thrombomodulin conjugates and their biological roles
- Regulating hemostasis: the factor Va cofactor effect
- The role of RNase L in lipid homeostasis and the development of atherosclerosis
- Synthesis and functionality study of novel biomimetic n-glycan polymers
- Gut microbe metabolism of bile acids and their relationship to cardiometabolic diseases
- Quantitative and clinical studies of hydrogen sulfide
- Investigating cardiac metabolism in Barth Syndrome using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes
- Therapeutic potential of rhTRAIL for malignant melanoma
- Expression and cell surface re-engineering thrombomodulin on macrophages
- Profiling and modulating sialylation and desialylation of monocytes and macrophages and their functions
- Profiling ganglioside expression and change in THP-1 macrophages upon LPS stimulation
- Coordination chemistry of N, N’-azodoxides
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:
| Position |
Employer |
| Section Head of Clinical Chemistry, Toxicology and Point of Care |
The MetroHealth Systems |
| Director of Clinical Chemistry, Assistant Professor |
Children’s Hospital and Intermountain Central Laboratory, University of Utah |
| Lead Scientist II |
LabCorp |
| Senior Researcher |
Bristol Myers Squibb |
| Assistant Director of Clinical Chemistry |
Nationwide Children’s Hospital |
| Director of Analytical Operations |
Doctor’s Data, Inc |
| Imaging Specialist and Developer |
Lerner Research Institute, the Cleveland Clinic |
| Staff Scientist |
The Lawrence J. Ellison Institute |
| Toxicology Director |
Beaumont Health |
| Staff Scientist II |
Covance |
| Lecturer |
Department of Chemistry, Case Western Reserve University |
| Laboratory Director |
Spectrum Health Regional Laboratory |
| Assistant Professor, Co-director of Clinical Chemistry |
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine |
| Bioanalytical Staff Scientist II |
Pyxant Lab, Salt Lake City |
| Research Scientist |
CDC-Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Scientist |
AbbVie |
| Senior Manager |
Labcorp |
| Postdoctoral Fellow |
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital |
| Research Scientist |
CuronBiotech |
| Chemistry Account Manager |
Waters Corporation |
| Clinical Chemistry Fellow |
Yale University |
| Clinical Assistant Professor of Pathology |
University of Arizona College of Medicine |
| Director of Clinical Chemistry and Toxicology |
Banner University Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona |
| Medical Director of Clinical Chemistry and Toxicology |
Sonora Quest Laboratories, Arizona |
| Clinical Chemist and Adjunct Assistant Professor |
Intermountain Health and University of Utah |
| Associate Research Scientist |
PPD |
| Postdoctoral Fellow |
NICHD/NIH |
| Scientific Writer |
PPD |
| Technology Coach |
University of Alberta |
| Associate Research Scientist |
PPD |
| Clinical Laboratory Technical Director and Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology |
The University of Cincinnati |
| FDA Fellow |
FDA |
| Technical Director |
Sanford Health |
| Analytical Chemist-3 |
Avomeen Analytical Services, Ann Arbor, MI |
| Clinical Chemistry Fellow |
Cleveland Clinic |
| Postdoctoral Fellow |
Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute |
| Scientist |
LabCorp |
| Postdoctoral Fellow |
Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute |
| Postdoctoral Fellow |
Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute |
| Clinical Chemistry Fellow |
Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute |
| Clinical Chemistry Fellow |
University of Washington |
Financial Assistance
Graduate teaching assistantships are available on a competitive basis. They include tuition support or tuition support with a stipend. Students who are awarded teaching assistantships are required to teach classes. Non-native English-speaking students must take and pass the SPEAK test.
Research assistantships and Cleveland Clinic Fellowships may be available through individual faculty, 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 the aptitude test 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.
The application deadline each year is February 15 (for fall admission) and October 15 (for spring admission). All applications should be done online via the CSU Graduate Admissions website.
Apply Now: https://grad.engagecsu.com/
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 the research advisor and the director of the graduate program.