Graduate Curriculum
The IGPNS curriculum provides graduate students, in all emphasis groups, with a common core of graduate level nutrition courses. Participation in these required courses ensures that students who pursue widely differing areas of specialization have an understanding of the breadth of modern nutrition research.
Please refer to emphasis groups for their individual curriculum requirements.
Graduate Course Descriptions
Graduate courses are designated as 600 and above. They are described below. Courses below the 600 level are described as part of the undergraduate curriculum.
* I = Fall Semester, II = Spring Semester, SS = Summer Session, O = Online
| Group | Class Title | Class Description |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses: | 619 Advanced Nutrition: | Intermediary Metabolism of Macronutrient, Discuss metabolic control; gastrointestinal physiology, nutrient absorption; molecular, cellular, organismal aspects of glucose transport, metabolism, regulation; fuel sensing; molecular regulation of fatty acid, lipid metabolism;l cellular, organmismal aspects of protein metabolism; hormonal control of metabolism; experimental approaches for studying metabolism. . P: Grad St; Nutr Sci/Biochem 510 & Physiol 335 or equivalent. |
| 621 Introduction to Nutritional Epidemiology | (Cross listed with Prev Med 621) Alt yrs I; 1 cr. Techniques used to evaluate relationships of diet to health and disease in human populations; integration of knowledge gained with results of animal and clinical studies toward understanding dietary risk or protective factors for disease. Includes advanced diet assessment and basic epidemiologic approaches. P: Grad St; Stats 301 or equiv & Nutr Sci 332 or cons inst. | |
| 623 Advanced Nutrition: Minerals | (Crosslisted with Environ Tox 623) Alt yrs II; 1 cr. Topics discussed in regard to minerals are: metabolic roles; absorption, excretion, transport and cellular metabolism; nutritional and toxicological standards for humans and animal models; bioavailability; genetic interactions; and research methodologies. P: Grad St; Nutr Sci/Biochem 510 & Physiol 335 or equivalent. | |
| 625 Advanced Nutrition: Obesity/Diabetes | Alt yrs II; 1 cr. Physiology, biochemistry and genetics of human obesity and diabetes. Critical review of current research on their etiology and treatment. P: Grad St; Nutr Sci 619 or Con Reg & Physiol 335 or equivalent or Cons instr. | |
| 626 Experimental Diet Design | (Crosslisted with Animal Sci 626) I; 1 cr. Discuss nutrient requirements, composition of ingredients used to meet requirements and the mathematical steps involved in diet formulation with emphasis on research animals and human subjects. P: Grad St; Stats 301 or equivalent & Nutr Sci/Biochem 510 or Con Reg or Cons Instr. | |
| 627 Advanced Nutrition: Vitamins | Alt yrs; I; 1 cr. Scientific knowledge of the metabolic functions, metabolism and nutritional requirements of some of the water-soluble vitamins and all of the fat-soluble vitamins. P: Grad St; Nutr Sci/Biochem 510 & Physiol 335 or equivalent or Con Reg or Cons Instr. | |
| Specialized Core Courses: | Pathology 803 | This course will focus on disease pathogenesis and discussion of the leading disease research model. Throughout the course, we will combine expert clinicians, basic scientists, and literature review on specific major diseases. (Last taught Fall 2016; 3 cr. Pre-requisites: Upper-level general cell boil course or Path 703) |
| Population Health Sciences 664 | This course is intended to provide students with theoretical and practical knowledge to develop, implement, and evaluate obesity prevention interventions. This course will emphasize pediatric obesity prevention with a focus on nutrition and physical activity health behaviors and environments. (Fall semester; last taught Fall 2015; 2 cr.) | |
| Nutr Sci 875 | (Vitamin A; Molecule to Man)- Topics course | |
| Population Health Science 650 | (Intro to Pop. Health Sciences)- Topics Course | |
| PHS 664 | (Prevention of Childhood overweight and obesity) – This course is intended to provide students with theoretical and practical knowledge to develop, implement, and evaluate obesity prevention interventions. This course will emphasize pediatric obesity prevention with a focus on nutrition and physical activity health behaviors and environments. (Fall semester, last taught Fall 2015; 2 cr.) | |
| Biochem/ Phmcol-M/ Zoology 630 | (Signal Transduction)- Lecture-discussion. Comprehensive coverage of human hormones, growth factors and other mediators; emphasis on hormone action and biosynthesis, cell biology of hormone-producing cells. (Fall semester, last taught Fall 2016; 3 cr. Prerequisites: Intro biochem (501 or 507& 508) and cell biology (Biocore 303 or Zoo 570 or Path 750) or cons inst.)) | |
| Kinesiology 774 | Metabolic responses to exercise and stress- Examination of the metabolic and biochemical responses to acute and chronic exercise and environmental stress. Emphasis placed on the mechanisms underlying these responses. (Last taught Spring 2015; 2cr. Prerequisites: Physiol 720 or cons instr.) | |
| AS 414 | (Ruminant Nutrition)- Integrates basic nutrition concepts and ration balancing skills by teaching students to balance and troubleshoot rations for various domesticated ruminants. An Sci/Dy Sci 313 is recommended. (Fall semester; Last taught Fall 2016; 2cr. Prerequisites: An Sci/ Dy Sci 311) | |
| PHS 650 | PHS 650 (State Hygiene Laboratory)- Topics Course | |
| CRB 630 | (Proteomics for Biologists)- Proteomics and metabolomics are playing an increasingly important role in biology and medicine. Many biology labs are now starting to use proteomics and metabolomics in their research projects. This course is designed specifically for students in biological sciences who have interests to learn proteomics and metabolomics. It will integrate formal classroom lectures with one-on-one consultation. Lectures include the essential fundamentals and applications in mass spectrometry-based proteomics and metabolomics to address biological/medical problems. Meanwhile, one-on-one consultation will be offered to respond to students’ individual needs, including the design of proteomics/metabolomics experiments, troubleshooting, and proper interpretation of the results. Students who take this course should have basic chemistry and biochemistry knowledge. (Fall semester, Last taught Fall 2016; 2 cr. Prerequisites: Graduate Student or Biochem 501 or Biochem 507) | |
| Path 750 | (Cell pathology)- The emphasis is on our current understanding of molecular and cellular mechanisms. Wherever possible, human diseases are used to illustrate the outcome at the organismal level of defects in these mechanisms. Lectures will draw from the current research literature and cover topics such as cell and tissue organization, intracellular sorting, cell migration and growth. Students in Cellular and Molecular Pathology graduate program must enroll for lectures, 2 credits and discussion section, 1 credit. All other students should enroll for lecture only, 2 credits. (Last taught: Spring 2016; 2 cr. Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. Concurrent registration in Path 709 recommended) | |
| MMI 528 | (Immunology)- Development and functions of immune response in animals; a comprehensive study of experimental humoral and cellular immunity. (Fall semester, last taught Fall 2016; 3 cr. Prerequisites: two semesters chemistry and one semester zoology or general biology) | |
| BMI 576 | (Introduction to Bioinformatics)- Algorithms for computational problems in molecular biology. The course will study algorithms for problems such as: genome sequencing and mapping, pairwise and multiple sequence alignment, modeling sequence classes and features, phylogenetic tree construction, and gene-expression data analysis. (Fall semesters, last taught Fall 2016; 3 cr. Prerequisites: Comp Sci 367, Math 222) | |
| Hort 555 | (Plant Functional Genomics and Bioinformatics)- A survey of the underlying technologies of genomic research with a special emphasis on their applications in plant science. Provides students with a deeper understanding of the many public resources and databases being generated by large-scale genomics projects. (Spring semesters, Last taught Fall 2014; Prerequisites: Grad st) | |
| Statistics 571 | (Statistical Methods for Bioscience I) Descriptive statistics, distributions, one- and two-sample normal inference, power, one-way ANOVA, simple linear regression, categorical data, non-parametric methods; underlying assumptions and diagnostic work. (Fall; 4 cr.) | |
| Statistics 572 | (Statistical Methods for Bioscience II) Continuation of Forestry 571. Polynomial regression, multiple regression, two-way ANOVA with and without interaction, split-plot design, subsampling, analysis of covariance, elementary sampling, introduction to bioassay. (Spring; 4 cr.) | |
| BMI 542 | (Introduction to clinical trials statistics) Intended for biomedical researchers interested in the design and analysis of clinical trials. Topics include definition of hypotheses, measures of effectiveness, sample size, randomization, data collection and monitoring, and issues in statistical analysis. Statistics graduate students should take Stat 641. (Spring; 3 cr.) | |
| Oncology 675 | Core techniques in protein and genetic engineering- Topics course | |
| Genetics 885 | (Advanced Genomic and proteomic analysis)- With the availability of genome sequences and high-throughput techniques, organismal physiology can now be examined on a global scale by monitoring the behavior of all genes or proteins in a single experiment. This course will present modern techniques in genomics and proteomics, with particular focus on analyzing the data generated by these techniques. Course material will cover genomic sequencing, comparative sequence analysis, phylogeny construction and phylogenomics, transcription factor motif discovery, DNA microarray analysis, techniques in mass spectrometry, proteomic screening methods, and protein-interaction network analysis. In addition to lecture time, the course consists of a 2-hour per week computer lab where students get hands-on experience analyzing genomic and proteomic datasets. In addition, students conduct a semester-long computational project of their choice that uses multiple computational methods discussed in class. Class enrollment is limited to 20 students due to computer lab space. (every other Fall; 3 cr. Prerequisites: General statistics, intermediate or advanced Genetics, and instructor consent. | |
| CRB 630 | (Proteomics Approaches for Biologists)- Proteomics and metabolomics are playing an increasingly important role in biology and medicine. Many biology labs are now starting to use proteomics and metabolomics in their research projects. This course is designed specifically for students in biological sciences who have interests to learn proteomics and metabolomics. It will integrate formal classroom lectures with one-on-one consultation. Lectures include the essential fundamentals and applications in mass spectrometry-based proteomics and metabolomics to address biological/medical problems. Meanwhile, one-on-one consultation will be offered to respond to students’ individual needs, including the design of proteomics/metabolomics experiments, troubleshooting, and proper interpretation of the results. Students who take this course should have basic chemistry and biochemistry knowledge. (Fall semester, Last taught Fall 2016; 2 cr. Prerequisites: Graduate Student or Biochem 501 or Biochem 507) | |
| Seminar Courses: | 600 Introductory Seminar in Nutrition | I; 1 cr. Presentation of reports from current journals of nutritional sciences. P:Grad St; Nutri Sci/Biochem 510 & Physiol 335 or equiv or Cons Reg or cons Inst. |
| 881 Seminar Topics in Human and Clinical Nutrition | II; 1 cr. Varied topics in clinical and human nutrition. Prereq: Nutr Sci 600. | |
| 901 Biochem – Seminar in Nutrition and Metabolism | I; 1 cr. Varied topics in biochemical and molecular nutrition. | |
| 931 Animal Sciences/Dairy Sciences – Seminar in Animal Nutrition | II; 1 cr. Varied topics in animal nutrition. | |
| 931 Seminar Nutrition | I, II; 1 cr. Prereq: Cons inst. This interdisciplinary course complements the more focused Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences (IGPNS) emphasis group seminars and other IGPNS courses with expert presentations of current research methods and data and issue-based applications. NS 931 speakers address topics that represent the breadth of nutrition, a field that investigates complex problems from molecules to communities. | |
| 991 Research Nutrition | I, II, SS; 1-12 cr. Prereq: Cons inst. | |
| Other Courses: | 799 Practicum in Nutritional Sciences Teaching | I, II; 1-3 cr. Instructional orientation to teaching at the higher education level in the agricultural and life sciences, direct teaching experience under faculty supervision, experience in testing and evaluation of students, and the analysis of teaching performance. Prereq: Grad standing and Cons Inst. |
| 993 Independent Study in Nutrition | I, II; 1-12 cr. Prereq: Cons Inst. |