New biomedical physics program

The Department of Physics has initiated a new biomedical physics undergraduate program (special degree program) beginning this semester with a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering."

Dr. Amir Huda, the PI of the grant, will soon be assisted by the recruitment of a new faculty member to embark on this program.  An undergraduate curriculum in the Physics of Neuroimaging reflects an innovative vision to attract and motivate students to pursue careers in quantitative neurosciences.

This program will help students overcome two currently held barriers in the pursuit of such studies: (1) the broad and interdisciplinary nature of the subject makes a graduate program in computational neurosciences quite intensive and (2) the lack of a strong mathematics and physics foundation makes innovation and understanding challenging at higher levels.

This proposed undergraduate program intends to fill this niche by building a proper foundation for such careers and by serving as a feeder program for graduate students within the state and through out the nation.

The range of specialized courses will include from human anatomy and physiology, neuroanatomy to magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy of the human brain, radiation health physics, diagnostic radiology, measurement systems and instrumentation, conduct of human research, and nuclear medicine and its application in neurology.

The proposed curriculum and classroom instruction will be enhanced by actual clinical training in local area medical centers, summer internships at prospective graduate schools, state-of-the-art laboratories in research institutions, and structured seminars with one-to-one interaction with the best researchers in the country to motivate and inspire the students.  Students will provide continuous feedback to determine needed modifications to ensure a successful program.

For more information, please visit the website: http://medicalphysics.csufresno.edu/ or contact Huda at ahuda@csufresno.edu.