The Neuroscience Ph.D. program at the University of Georgia was established in conjunction with the Biomedical and Health Science Institute (BHSI), and the BHSI serves as its administrative home. The purpose of the BHSI is to facilitate and promote interdisciplinary research and instructional efforts at UGA in the fields of biomedical and health sciences. The BHSI is comprised of three divisions: Neuroscience, One Health, and Basic and Translational Biomedical Sciences.

The Neuroscience Ph.D. program at UGA involves more than 30 faculty representing 14 departments. The program awards doctoral degrees in Neuroscience. The program provides graduare students with the board academic background, technical expertise, clinical exposure, and scientific scholarship necessary to continue their careers in neuroscience research. A major goal of the research is to provide society with the basic information about nervous system function that is critical for developing treatments for neurological and behavioral disorders. Scientific study of the nervous systems is thus essential for overall health and well-being. Damage or disorders in this system may result in severe impairment to the patient and costs billions of dollars to diagnose and treat each year.

Examples of brain disorders that exact a devastating toll on the nation's health include traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, stroke, depression, schizophrenia, and drug abuse, to name but a few. Furthermore, as biomedical research progresses, it has become increasingly clear that the nervous system is critically involved in all diseases, not just behavioral and neorological disorders. Brain function influences the onset and progression of illnesses ranging from infectious disease to cancer to diabetes. Behavior, which is the manifestation of brain functions, is probably the most important factor in determining disease onset. Examples of behaviors influencing health include exercise, diet, smoking, and illicit drug use. Understanding how the brain regulates these behaviors may yield the most important information about how to prevent major diseases.

Director of Graduate Studies: Jesse Schank, Associate Professor jschank@uga.edu Graduate Program Advisor/Graduate Program Administrator: Carrie Harden neuro@uga.edu https://neuroscience.uga.edu