# Curriculum

*For students who entered the MDSAI (MSBDS) program prior to 2025, please refer to your curriculum checklists on the Blackboard site.*

#### **Core Curriculum (6 credits)**

All students must complete **three** of the four fundamental core curriculum courses in their first semester. 

* BSR1030 Core I: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (2 credits) – Fall
* BSR1031 Core II: Pharmacology & Drug Discovery (2 credits) – Fall
* BSR1032 Biomedical Sciences Core III: Cell & Developmental Biology (2 credits) – Fall
* BSR1033 Core IV: Neuroscience (2 credits) – Fall

#### **Other Required Coursework (9.5 credits)**

* Computer Systems: The computer systems course is split into 3 separate 1 credit courses.  The courses are offered in a specific sequence during the fall term.  Each course will be graded separately.
  * BDS1005 Computer Systems: UNIX/LINUX Fundamentals (1 credit) 
  * BDS1006 Computer Systems: Architectures & Applications in Scientific Computing (1 credit)
  * BDS1007 Computer Systems: Introduction to Scientific Programming in Python 3 (1.5 credits)
* BDS2005 Introduction to Algorithms (3 credits) – Spring
* BDS3002 Machine Learning for Biomedical Data Science (3 credits) – Spring

#### **Mandatory Training Sessions (1 credit)**

Students must take the following two additional mandatory training requisites:

* BSR1021 Responsible Conduct of Research (0.5 credit) – Fall
* BSR1022 Rigor and Reproducibility (0 .5 credit) – Spring

#### **Elective Credits (4.5-11 credits)**

Students take elective credits to pursue complementary coursework in areas of most significant interest to their research topic.

#### **Capstone Research Project (3-9 credits)**

Students in the MSDSAI program complete a culminating capstone project. Capstone research projects are performed using a wide range of approaches with various of biomedical applications. Below is an illustrative list or research areas: 

* computational genomics
* computational biophysics
* systems pharmacology
* biomedical engineering
* imaging and visualization
* biostatistics
* clinical epidemiology
* clinical trials
* environmental medicine
* public health
* health systems design
* health information technology