Anatomical Sciences
Stony Brook University
Graduate Program in Anatomical Sciences

Director: Dr. Maureen O'Leary
Health Sciences Center T8, Room 089 (631) 444-3730
Staff Associate:Christine Johnson
Health Sciences Center T8, Room 044 (631) 444-3114
Alumni of Anatomical Sciences Graduate Program
Degree awarded: Ph.D. in Anatomical Sciences
The Department of Anatomical Sciences, within the Health Sciences Center, offers a multidisciplinary graduate program leading to the Ph.D. degree. Students receive comprehensive training to prepare them for teaching and research in the areas of evolutionary morphology, functional morphology, musculoskeletal biology, and vertebrate paleontology. Graduate students are guided through a program of courses appropriate to their particular needs. In this regard, the Department of Anatomical Sciences interacts with other departments in the School of Medicine as well as those in the Biological Sciences Division and the Anthropology Department. Faculty members of Anatomical Sciences play vital roles in both the university-wide Interdepartmental Program in Anthropological Sciences and Turkana Basin Institute.

The program is concerned with the analysis and interpretation of gross vertebrate structure in relation to adaptation and systematics. Training and research focus on (a) an evolutionary perspective in the analysis of morphology, including the influences of function, structure, and phylogenetic history, and (b) the structural adaptations of bone as load-bearing tissue, including the physiologic mechanisms of osteogenesis and osteolysis. Both the locomotor and the craniodental systems are regions of current interest and investigation within the department. Emphasis is placed on the application of experimental and quantitative techniques to the analysis of the relationship between form and function. Studies of skeletal adaptations focus around a collaboration with the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Questions of systematics are approached at many different levels ranging from alpha taxonomy to higher-order relationships utilizing such techniques as quantitative cladistics and numerical taxonomy, as well as more traditional taxonomic methods. Students in the program have the opportunity to master a variety of research methods and analytical strategies: electromyography, cineradiography, kinematics and kinetics, in vivo bone strain measurement, finite element analysis, quantitative morphology including scaling (allometry) and multivariate morphometrics, systematic classification techniques, scanning electron microscopy and tandem-scanning, reflected-light microscopy, behavioral ecology, and principles of paleontological fieldwork.

Degree Requirements

M.S. Degree Requirements
The Graduate Program in Anatomical Sciences does not accept students whose goal is a master's degree. In exceptional instances, a student already in the program may be awarded an M.S. degree upon completing an approved course of study including (1) a minimum of 30 graduate credit hours, (2) passing a comprehensive examination, and (3) submitting a master's thesis.

Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree
In addition to the minimum requirements of the Graduate School, the following are required:

A. Formal Course Requirements
The following courses are required for all students in the program:
1. Human Gross Anatomy & Embryology
2. An approved course in statistics
In addition, students are required to take four courses chosen in consultation with the student's advisor from the following list:
1. Molecules, Genes, and Cells
2. Organ Systems
3. Neurosciences
4. Functional Morphology or Animal Mechanics
5. Vertebrate Evolution
6. Principles of Evolution, or Macroevolution Depending on the area of specialization, students will be required to take additional courses, such as Solid Mechanics, Mammalian Evolution, or Biomedical Engineering.

All students must achieve a B or higher in all required courses and must maintain a B average or higher in all elective courses.

B. Preliminary Examination
Upon completion of formal courses (normally at the beginning of the fourth semester), each student is given an oral preliminary examination. Depending on the area of concentration, the examination covers human anatomy, embryology and either neuroanatomy, principles of evolution or musculoskeletal biology.

C. Advancement to Candidacy
The faculty will recommend a student to the Graduate School for advancement to candidacy upon satisfactory completion of all course requirements and the Preliminary Examination. The student then becomes a formal candidate for the Ph.D.

D. Dissertation Proposal and Proposal Examination
Following advancement to candidacy, the student selects a Dissertation Advisor and a Dissertation Committee consisting of at least two additional members of the Department of Anatomical Sciences and one person from outside the department. In consultation with this committee, the student prepares a dissertation proposal. The dissertation proposal examination consists of an oral presentation of this proposal to the faculty as a whole, followed by an oral defense before the Dissertation Committee. This examination should occur no later than 12 months after passing the oral preliminary examination.

E. Ph.D. Dissertation
The student, under the supervision of the Dissertation Committee, performs the research leading to the preparation of written dissertation. The dissertation must contain the results of original and significant investigation.

F. Dissertation Defense
Following completion of the dissertation, the student presents his or her findings in a formal public oral defense. The defense is conducted by the Dissertation Committee, but is not chaired by the student's advisor. Following the presentation of results, the student is questioned by members of the committee and by other members of the audience.

G. Teaching Requirement
Every student is required to teach medical human gross anatomy (HBA 531) at least once before graduation. In addition, students receiving a teaching assistantship are required to teach.


On-line application form available at http://www.grad.sunysb.edu/prospective/applying/index.shtml

For more information please contact Dr. Maureen O'Leary (631) 444-3730

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