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)

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