ENDOCANNABINOID SIGNALING IN NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES
The Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Genetics (APG) is dedicated to cutting edge research in Neuroscience, Cell Biology, Organismal Physiology and Molecular Genetics. Our resources include a world class faculty focused on medical investigations of the most devastating diseases affecting mankind, modern research laboratories equipped with state of the art instrumentation, and the Center for Military Precision Health (CMPH) and The Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine (CNRM). Members of the department currently have extramural support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DOD). Our faculty have published many manuscripts in peer reviewed journals in the last few years and currently have extramurally funded active research protocols.
We are actively involved in educating the next generation of military physicians and leaders in Biomedical Research and Education. Our faculty play leading roles in six of the seven organ system-based ‘modules’ that make-up the 18 month Pre-Clerkship medical curriculum. Three of the Module Directors are members of the APG faculty. In addition, APG is actively involved in graduate biomedical education. Members of the APG faculty serve or have recently served as Director of the Neuroscience Graduate Program and Associate Dean for Graduate Education, and we are course directors for a total of 17 graduate school courses. APG faculty frequently participate as student dissertation committee members and major professors responsible for guiding students performing research in their laboratories in fulfillment of the requirements for the PhD degree.
The theme of the medical school curriculum is Molecules to Military Medicine and true to this mission our faculty teaches core scientific concepts ranging from gross human anatomy to the molecular basis of human disease. Our education leaders aid in the placement and delivery of lectures, laboratory exercises and small group sessions associated with the anatomy, histology, physiology, cell biology, embryology, and neuroscience components of the modular curriculum. Our faculty are true educational innovators, developing new approaches and materials to reach out to students to stay at the forefront of education trends. These efforts of the faculty have been well received by the medical students as our faculty members have been named as the Civilian Educator of the year by the graduating classes of 2012, 2013, and 2015.