Biological Sciences in Public Health"‹ is one of the programs in the Harvard Integrated Life Sciences, which facilitates collaboration and cross-disciplinary research. Visit HILS for additional application instructions.
This program is built on three unique core pillars:
- Biological research with a focus on understanding, preventing, and treating human diseases affecting large populations
- Emphasis on laboratory sciences using biochemical, cell biology, molecular, genetic, and computational approaches to delineating disease mechanisms
- State-of-the-art research facilities within the vibrant intellectual community of the Harvard Longwood Campus
You will choose from three major areas of investigation:
- Metabolic basis of health and diseases, where you will study the control of cellular and systemic metabolism
- Immunology and infectious diseases, where you will conduct laboratory research focused on infectious and immune-mediated diseases
- Molecular and integrative physiological sciences, where you will investigate basic pathogenic mechanisms, adaptive stress responses, and other biological impacts on human health and disease.
Examples of student projects include understanding the effect of Mycobacterium tuberculosis genetic and phenotypic diversity, defining how the liver responds to fasting and feeding using genetic mouse models, and understanding how pulmonary airway epithelial cells communicate through extracellular vesicles.
Graduates have gone into academia at institutions like Harvard Medical School, University of Pennsylvania, and Dartmouth College. Others have secured positions in industry with companies like McKinsey & Company, Pfizer, and Novartis.
Students in the BPH program are enrolled in and receive a PhD from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, even though they may work primarily with Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health faculty on Harvard's Longwood Medical Campus. BPH is also one of the graduate programs in the Harvard Integrated Life Sciences.
Additional information on the graduate program is available from the program in Biological Sciences in Public Health and requirements for the degree are detailed in GSAS Policies.