Veterinary Biomedical Sciences Program

Program Description

The Veterinary Biomedical Sciences (VBS) MS program in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University is designed to train graduate students through excellence in teaching and innovative basic, applied, and clinical research that improves animal and human health. The VBS also prepares DVM graduate students to meet the demands of veterinary careers, internships, and residencies. The graduate faculty members in the program have established programmatic requirements, guided by the policies of the Graduate School, for admission, supervision, and completion of the MS degree. The program is the only program in the State of Kansas that offers a MS degree in disciplines of Veterinary Medical Sciences related to all aspects of animal health and wellbeing. The program offers opportunities for DVM students to concurrently work on a dual degree program (DVM/MS) to gain research experience to enhance their career opportunities.

The VBS program has three subdisciplines, Anatomy and Physiology, Clinical Sciences and Pathobiology, which are under the supervision of the graduate faculty members in the Departments of Anatomy and Physiology, Clinical Sciences and Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, respectively. The research activities of the graduate faculty are in specialized areas of Infectious Diseases, including Zoonotic Diseases and Transboundary Diseases, Bacteriology, Companion Animal Health, Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Cancer Biology and Treatment, Epidemiology, Food Animal Health and Management, Food Safety and Security, Immunology, Nanotechnology, Metabolic Diseases, Physiological Sciences, Stem Cell Biology and Translational Medicine. The program is served by a number of graduate faculty that have national and international recognitions, including a Regents Professor and two with the title of University Distinguished Professor, the highest honor accorded by the university, while six have the honor of Endowed Chairs and Professorships. Additionally, researchers from outside K-State are adjunct members of the program. The research activities and discovery strengths of the faculty in the program are organized and focused in Centers and Institutes, which include the Beef Cattle Institute, Center of Epithelial Research, Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases (CEEZAD), Center for Outcomes Research and Education (CORE), Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases (CEVBD), Midwest Institute for Comparative Stem Cell Biology and the U.S.-China Center for Animal Health. Graduate students also have opportunities to work in federal research institutes, such as the Arthropod-Borne Animal Disease Research Unit (ABADRU), a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) institute in Manhattan, KS to study vector borne diseases and the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF), a Department of Homeland Security laboratory, also in Manhattan, KS to study foreign animal diseases.

 

Faculty Contact

Dr. T.G. Nagaraja
Director, Pathobiology Graduate Program
Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology
College of Veterinary Medicine
Kansas State University
305 Coles Hall
1620 Denison Avenue
Manhattan, KS 66506-5800
Tel: 785-532-1214
Cell: 785-341-6342
tnagaraj@vet.k-state.edu

Graduate Program Assistant Contact

Ms. Barb Turner
Graduate Program Assistant
Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology
Kansas State University
302 Coles Hall
1620 Denison Avenue
Manhattan, KS 66506-5800
Tel: 785-532-4500
bturner3@vet.k-state.edu