Academic Partnerships:Because of the diverse professional backgrounds of the faculty of the department, there are also graduate students who carry out dissertation research with our faculty, but will obtain their degree from other graduate programs such as Biological Chemistry, Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, Neurobiology, Pathology and Laboratory Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biomathematics, Biomedical Physics, and various departments in the School of Engineering.
Biomedical Physics Interdepartmental Graduate Program
Biomedical Physics (BMP for short) is an Interdeparmental Graduate Program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs (CAMPEP, www.campep.org). This program is supported by, and draws its faculty from, the departments of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, Radiation Oncology, and Radiological Sciences within the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
The goal of the Biomedical Physics program has been to develop research scientists who are well versed in physics, engineering, biology, mathematics and computer science, and who understand the application of these disciplines to the instruments and techniques used in the fields of medical and biological imaging as well as therapeutic medical physics and radiation biology.
They do this by offering offer both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Physics through their four specialties:
Graduates in biomedical physics can expect to engage in any combination of clinical service, consultation, research, and teaching.
Industry Partnerships
Various faculty members in the Department have ongoing collaboration with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies providing opportunities for you to gain exposure to industry. Collaborative projects range in scope from drug discovery to biomedical technology and software development. Specific research topics include screening compounds that inhibit HIV replication; creating Positron Emission Tomography (PET) probes for in vivo imaging of HIV infection; studies on novel anti-epileptic drugs and drugs that reduce alcohol withdrawal symptoms; developing new diagnostics and therapeutics for diabetes; design of drugs that modify signal transduction pathways; neuronal regeneration in vivo studies in non-human primate models of Parkinson's disease; in vivo imaging of gene expression with PET; development of biological imaging technology including a unique gamma camera for breast imaging and intra-operative imaging probes; as well as implementation of computer based multimedia learning systems.