GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN CLINICAL CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY The graduate programs (master’s and Ph.D. programs) in Clinical Chemistry are dynamically integrated programs merging the fields of biomedicine, clinical diagnosis, and analytical chemistry. The instructional and training components are carried out by clinical chemistry faculty in the Department of Chemistry at Cleveland State University, with active participation of the clinical laboratories at the Cleveland Clinic and MetroHealth Medical Center, involving many doctoral clinical scientists from these, as well as other, medical centers in the Cleveland area. Given below are summary descriptions of the doctoral program in Clinical Chemistry (section A) with more in-depth descriptions of the curriculum and participating faculty (sections B and C, respectively). A. Summary of Doctoral Program in Clinical Chemistry 1. Overview The doctoral program in Clinical Chemistry is offered jointly by Cleveland State University (CSU) and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF). The program is overseen by two co-directors of Clinical Chemistry, who are board certified by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry. This program was the first doctoral program in Clinical Chemistry in the United States and has awarded the most doctorates in the field of Clinical Chemistry (a total of 68 since its inception in 1973). It is currently in the process of being re- accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Clinical Chemistry (ComACC). The Clinical Chemistry doctoral program curriculum is designed to give an in-depth education in clinical laboratory science, as described in detail in section B. There are multiple faculty members who actively contribute in this program (see section C). Focal faculty members include four CSU faculty members in the clinical chemistry/biochemistry division and two clinical faculty members at CCF and MetroHealth Medical Center. These faculty members contribute significantly to the teaching and research aspects of the program. In addition to these core faculty members, there are approximately 20 doctoral clinical scientists who give lectures in their areas of expertise. Finally, there are over 30 faculty members in the Lerner Research Institute at CCF appointed in the program and ten other faculty members (in addition to the four in the clinical/biochemistry division) in the Department of Chemistry at CSU, all of whom can supervise doctoral students in dissertation research. The ten other CSU faculty members also teach graduate elective courses. 1 Doctoral students in the program have opportunities to do their dissertation research for either CSU faculty in the Department of Chemistry (14 faculty members) or faculty at CCF, either in the Department of Clinical Pathology (one clinical faculty) or in the Lerner Research Institute (32 CCF faculty). CSU chemistry faculty undertake biomedical research in areas pertinent to clinical chemistry, including: mass spectrometry, HPLC, biomedical imaging, biosensors, computational chemistry, coagulation biochemistry, protein chemistry, microarrays, molecular biology, tumor markers, cancer biochemistry, and proteomics. The Lerner Research Institute at CCF undertakes basic biomedical research in the areas of molecular biology, cellular biology, cancer biology, neurosciences, molecular cardiology, immunology, pathobiology, molecular genetics, genomic medicine, stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, and biomedical engineering. 2. Mission and Objectives of the Doctoral Program in Clinical Chemistry The mission of the program is to educate Ph.D. clinical chemists who can assume head positions in hospital or reference laboratories, or who can assume research/developmental positions within the clinical diagnostics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, as well as assume academic positions. Incorporated within this mission is the goal to set high standards of excellence in the education of Ph.D. clinical chemists. Knowledge of both clinical aspects and interpretation of test results, as well knowledge of analytical techniques and laboratory quality control and performance in laboratory operation, is central to the program’s goals and mission. An additional mission of the program is to mentor students to become independent researchers, educating and mentoring the student in cutting-edge analytical methodologies and novel clinical/biomedical research, such that the Ph.D. recipient can make significant scientific contributions to the field of clinical chemistry. The CSU-CCF’s doctoral Clinical Chemistry program, in addition to preparing graduates for careers in the clinical/reference laboratories, prepares its graduates for positions in industry, including clinical diagnostics (in vitro diagnostics), pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, in which knowledge of clinical aspects is a useful background. The doctoral program is quite applicable to the clinical diagnostics (in vitro diagnostics) industry. The clinical diagnostics (in vitro diagnostics) industry is a $44 billion industry worldwide ($18 billion industry in the US) which develops testing methodologies for clinical labs. In addition, knowledge of clinical chemistry benefits other industries. For example, positions with responsibilities in the clinical and pre-clinical trials of pharmaceutical companies benefit from personnel having knowledge of diagnostics for the interpretation of drug testing trials. Thus the training of basic and applied scientists with knowledge of clinical diagnosis is an important goal of the program. For students interested in assuming head positions in clinical laboratories in medical facilities (as 2 well as reference labs) the CSU-CCF doctoral program in Clinical Chemistry is considered in the context of the progression of training that a student will receive at both the doctoral and post-doctoral level. The objective of CSU-CCF’s doctoral program is to intensively educate students in terms of the basic principles, as well as to assimilate the extensive knowledge base of the clinical chemistry field. The role of clinical chemistry post-doctoral programs is to give extensive practical experience in the clinical laboratory. Although training in the practical aspects of running a clinical chemistry laboratory is done in doctoral CSU- CCF's program, rigorous daily training in these areas are more appropriately done at the post-doctoral level. For this reason, the doctoral CSU-CCF program concentrates on the academic aspects of clinical chemistry, providing students with a solid knowledge base of clinical chemistry. Those students aspiring to be clinical chemists in the clinical laboratory are encouraged to continue their training in post-doctoral programs. 3. Overview of Graduates and Their Positions Graduating from the Doctoral Program Since the program’s inception there have been 68 graduates from the doctoral program in Clinical Chemistry at CSU. The types of positions currently held by our graduates (see Figure 1) include: directors/co-directors/post-doctoral fellows of clinical laboratories (both in medical centers and reference laboratories; 35%), heads of other reference laboratories (toxicology/pharmaceutical/ bioanalytical/pharmaceutical; 9%), scientists in industry (in vitro diagnostics, pharmaceutical, others; 16%), faculty at academic institutions (15%), research scientist positions (13%), and other positions (12%). High profile positions include: three presidents/CEOs of companies; six vice-presidents, including a senior vice president at Quest and a vice-president at Laboratory Corporation of America; ten heads of clinical labs at major medical facilities, including Mayo Clinic, Beth Israel, Emory University, Boston Medical Center, Vanderbilt University, and Cleveland Veterans Administration Medical Center; and ten primary appointment faculty positions, including positions at Harvard, Old Dominion University, Boston University, Cleveland State University, and a dean at an Ohio college. 3 B. Program Curriculum - Requirements for the Doctoral Program in Clinical Chemistry 1. Listing of Course Requirements for Graduate Programs in Clinical Chemistry The course requirements and options in the doctoral program in Clinical Chemistry is given in Table 1. CSU is on a semester system with courses offered in the fall and spring semesters. Internship courses are also offered in the summer semester (with approval of the Co-Director of Clinical Chemistry). Each fall and spring semester is fifteen weeks, with each semester credit being approximately one hour of class time per week. Table 1 Requirements of the Ph.D. Program in Clinical Chemistry Course Credits per course Clinical Chemistry I (CHM 651/751) (Fall, Year 1 or 2) (4) Clinical Chemistry II (CHM 652/752) (Fall, Year 1 or 2) (4) Biotechnology Techniques (CHM 655/755) (Spring, Year 1) (4) Advanced Biochemistry I (CHM 653/753) (Fall, Year 1) (4) Advanced Biochemistry II (CHM 654/754) (Spring, Year 1) (4) Internship in Clinical Laboratory I (CHM 756) (Fall or Spring, after Year 1) (6) Special Topics in Clinical Chemistry (CHM 750) (Fall and Spring, after Year 1) (1, 4 courses) Graduate Chemistry Elective (Fall or Spring, after Year 1) (3-4) Chemistry Seminar (CHM 695/795) (Fall and Spring, Year 1) (1, 2 courses) Ph.D. Candidacy Exam (CHM 891) (Spring, After Year 1) (1, multiple) Ph.D. Dissertation (CHM 899)a (90 - course credits)a Total 90 a This is any combination of Advanced Chemistry Lab (CHM 679/779), Annual Research Report (CHM 690/790), and