The curriculum comprises the school?s outstanding preclinical and clinical training, rigorous PhD graduate training and several elements, including professional development workshops and other activities, specifically designed to enhance the MD / PhD training experience. There has been a long tradition of research excellence and physician scientist training at the Miller School of Medicine. With the opportunities for basic and clinical research here, Miami?s diverse population and access to Latin America and the Caribbean, the backdrop of a vibrant city, make the Miller School a unique place for MD / PhD training.

The basic and clinical science departments of the University of Miami have a long-standing and internationally recognized record of graduate and postgraduate training in the neurosciences. The interdisciplinary PhD program in Neuroscience was established at the University in 1992. Our students have access to more than 80 neuroscientists across the School of Medicine, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Key research interests of these faculty include but are not limited to:

  • Cellular mechanisms underlying neurological diseases such as Parkinson?s Disease, Alzheimer?s Disease, and?AIDS-related-dementias
  • Ways in which addiction to nicotine, alcohol and illegal drugs are acquired and can be controlled
  • Strategies to limit and even repair damage to the brain and spinal cord caused by traumatic injury, ischemia, or stroke
  • Detailed molecular mechanisms underlying the expression and function of ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors
  • Sensory transduction in the visual, auditory, olfactory, and gustatory systems
  • Mechanisms of learning and memory
  • Development of the nervous system, with emphasis on axon growth and synapse formation, and basic cell biology as applied to the nervous system, including signal transduction, tumorigenesis, and cell-cell communication