Denise M. Inman, PhD, Graduate Advisor
Interdisciplinary Research and Education Building, Room 534
Phone: 817-735-2068
E-mail: denise.inman@unthsc.edu
The graduate training program in Visual Sciences is designed to provide students with knowledge, skills, and technical experience to prepare them for a research career in industry or academia. Students will undertake advanced courses in vision-related topics including: The normal structure and function of the eye; the physiology of vision; ocular genetics, immunology, and pharmacology; and ocular diseases (such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, inherited retinal degenerations, proliferative retinal diseases, and cataracts). Active participation in visual sciences journal clubs and visual sciences seminars is also required. Students will also be involved in in-depth basic research training utilizing genetic, molecular, cellular, biochemical, physiological, and pharmacological approaches in laboratories of university-affiliated vision experts and members of the North Texas Eye Research Institute in order to complete major requirements for master’s or doctoral degrees. In order to accomplish these, students are encouraged to acquire a broad-based knowledge from various disciplines in the institution and laboratories, which can then be applied towards vision research.
Like other interdisciplinary programs, the Visual Sciences program is intended to provide the student with a repertoire of courses and training from various basic science disciplines. It is the responsibility of the student’s mentor and advisory committee to direct the student to make the best choices among these courses and training in order to select those that will best fit the specific research project the student is interested in. To reflect this policy, at least 2 members of the advisory committee, in addition to the mentor, should be directly involved in eye or vision-related research. The advisory committee could also include adjunct faculty from industry involved in eye research.