Human Physiology is home to undergraduate and graduate students who desire strong training in human physiology and anatomy that will prepare them for careers in medicine, allied health professions, and biomedical research.

At the undergraduate level, future researchers, educators, physicians, physical therapists and other health care providers receive comprehensive, multidisciplinary training in the physical, biological, and chemical sciences that prepares them well for entrance into most professional health care-related programs. In addition to requiring completion of the core science courses, students are challenged to question critically, think logically, and communicate clearly. Human Physiology students also examine the health sciences from a perspective that explores the functional and structural mechanisms underlying human movement across health and disease, using a variety of physiological methods, ranging from biochemical and systems techniques through whole body analysis.

The graduate program develops researchers and health professionals who are creative thinkers and innovators capable of generating new knowledge in the physiological sciences. To this end, the department has a number of outstanding, funded laboratories that use physiological and engineering methods to evaluate human subjects under a broad spectrum of experimental conditions. The Department’s faculty members recognize that cutting-edge translational research, from basic physiological mechanisms through integrative systems physiology related to health, human movement, and physical activity, has a major influence on disease treatment and prevention. Consequently, in the performance of their research, they routinely work closely with physicians and other clinical personnel.

“The physiology of today is the medicine of tomorrow. ”
– Ernest Henry Starling, Physiologist (1926)