PhD Program in Functional

Anatomy & Evolution

The FAE graduate program offers a Ph.D. in Functional Anatomy and Evolution and provides individualized support by world-leading professors for each student in a close-knit department with an excellent faculty to student ratio. Our primary focuses are independent research and teaching human gross anatomy, with research areas covered by faculty and students that range from vertebrate fossils, to primates to recent human remains.

Application dealine:

December 1st

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As a result of the interdisciplinary training of the FAE graduate program, our graduates are well equipped to face the challenge of today’s academic job market. For more information on requirements for entry to the program, see our requirements for admission. See links at the bottom of the page for further information about the program.

Research

All students are required to engage in independent research, and a laboratory research rotation under faculty guidance begins soon after their arrival. Research may utilise our large collections of fossil vertebrates, our broad array of casts of recent and fossil mammal dentitions, or various samples of human historic and archaeological material. Research is further facilitated by our proximity to the collections of recent and fossil vertebrates held at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.; an hour’s journey by public transport. Baltimore’s excellent location additionally offers ease of access to the other major museums of the East Coast. These independant projects frequently develop into student publications or conference presentations.

To learn more about each of our faculty labs and their research specialties, visit the links below:

Teaching

Teaching opportunities at the Center are primarily centered around training our students to teach human anatomy in a medical setting. For a recent article on how evolutionary biology and teaching anatomy interrelate in our group, see: ‘Bone-ified’ Professors of Anatomy.

Students act as teaching assistants for both the Fundamentals of Anatomy course and the School of Medicine Human Anatomy course. These are cadaver based courses, allowing the highest level of dissection-based experience. The School of Medicine course is taught for seven weeks at the start of the third year, while the Fundamentals of Anatomy is taught at the end of both first and second years, for two weeks each time. Teaching assistants receive feedback from their students, allowing the development of a teaching portfolio.

Balanoff Lab

Bever Lab

Cooke Lab

FABBRI LAB

Ravosa Lab

Sylvester Lab

PhD Curriculum

Students are required to take courses offered by FAE faculty, listed below, during their first two years in the program. Chief among these is the School of Medicine’s Gross Human Anatomy class. Additional required courses are taken in organ histology, evolutionary biology, biomechanics, morphometrics, statistics and mammalian and primate evolution. Other courses are offered by the faculty based on interest from the student body. The culmination of the first two years is the Doctoral Board Examinations, a two hour oral exam taken by the end of the second year. Successful completion of these exams allows progression to candidacy. The courses offered also include a number of smaller research opportunities, which offer further publication opportunities.

Click to view curriculum

130.600 Scientific Foundations of Medicine – Human Anatomy

Drs. Balanoff, Bever, Cooke, Cormack, Ravosa, Sylvester, & staff. Offered each year (core curriculum for medical students). Next offered Fall 2024.

An introduction to the human gross anatomy. It will seek to give students enough background in anatomical knowledge and vocabulary to help them in their initial training in medical school; however, it will not be a substitute for anatomy courses in medical school. It will focus on normal adult anatomy, and it will cover each of the main regions of the body – i.e., thorax, abdomen and pelvis, back and limbs, and head and neck. Lectures will cover descriptive and functional anatomy, ultimately leaving students with a better understanding of anatomical terminology and 3D relationships of structures within the human body, and better problem-solving skills as they begin to relate symptoms to causes, again at the gross anatomical level.

130.602 Human Anatomy: Functional, Clinical, and Developmental Perspectives

Drs. Balanoff, Bever, Cooke. Next offered Fall 2024.

Pre-requisite: Consent of instructor.

This course will introduce Functional Anatomy and Evolution graduate students to human anatomy from a functional, clinical, and developmental perspective. The course runs in parallel with an anatomy course for 1st year medical students and follows a regional approach broken into three parts: 1) thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and perineum; 2) limbs and back; and 3) head and neck. Within each course section, information is presented via several activities: virtual lectures focusing on human anatomy and embryology, interactive review sessions, laboratory dissection, and student-led cooperative presentations on anatomical structures.

130.708 Biomechanics of the Skeleton

Dr. Ravosa. Next offered Fall 2024.

Pre-requisite: Consent of instructor.

Basic mechanical principles and their application to analysis of skeletal form. Bone material and geometric properties, structural remodeling and adaptation to the mechanical environment.

130.747 Introduction to Histology

Dr. Bever. Next offered Fall 2024.

Pre-requisite: By arrangement with instructor.

Introduction to basics of histology, using online M-scope imagery and Inverse-Lecture developed for Scientific Foundations of Medicine, plus individual instruction by FAE faculty.

130.742 Geometric Morphometrics

Dr. Sylvester. Next offered Spring 2025.

Pre-requisite: By arrangement with instructor.

This course provides the foundations for the statistical analysis of biological shape including both theoretical underpinnings as well as applied methodologies. Topics will include collection of landmark and continuous data, superimposition methods, statistical analyses and methods for visualization of shape variation.

130.746 Evolutionary Theory and Phylogenetic Comparative Methods

Dr. Bever. Next offered Spring 2025.

Pre-requisite: Consent of instructor.

This course examines the theory and techniques of evolutionary analysis with special emphasis on vertebrate anatomical and developmental systems. We will examine and critique classic and emerging viewpoints regarding core evolutionary concepts, review basic approaches to tree construction, and investigate methods for studying evolution in a comparative phylogenetic context.

130.748 Advanced Anatomy Dissection and Research

Dr. Bever. Next offered Spring 2025.

Supervised small group cadaveric dissection focusing on more detailed understanding of specific systems and regional anatomy, anatomical variation, clinical correlations, and comparative anamony.

130.749 Anatomy Teaching Practicum

Dr. Bever. Next offered Spring 2025.

Training in lecturing, small group leadership for presentation of anatomical material; including giving one lecture and assisting in labs.

130.800 Advanced Work and Research

Chosen FAE advisor. Offered each year.

Preparatory research into topics of interest, with goal of refining dissertation topic.

External courses offered on the Homewood and Medical Campuses

Students may take other courses offered by other departments on both the Medical and Homewood campuses. These courses are highly recommended.

Students in previous years have taken:
Macroevolution, Sedimentology, Ecology, Darwin and the Origin of Species from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Histology (component of Organ Systems) & Developmental Biology from the School of Medicine
Population and Quantitative Genetics from the Human Genetics Program at the School of Medicine.
Basic and advanced statistics courses from various departments.

Field Work

The FAE program also offers opportunities for fieldwork with our faculty in vertebrate paleontology, with a particular strength in the Eocene vertebrate faunas of Wyoming.

Vivien Thomas PhD Scholars

The Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative (VTSI) will endow and launch a major new effort to address historic underrepresentation in STEM. The $150 million initiative, backed by Bloomberg Philanthropies, will provide permanent funding to add a sustained cohort of approximately 100 new slots for diverse PhD students in JHU’s more than 30 STEM programs. As PhD students at Johns Hopkins, Vivien Thomas scholars will receive the academic and financial support needed to ensure their success, including up to six years of full tuition support, a stipend, health insurance and other benefits, along with significant mentorship, research, professional development and community-building opportunities. More information about the VTSI program is available at this link: https://provost.jhu.edu/about/vivien-thomas-scholars-initiative/.

To be considered for the VTSI, you must complete and submit all components of the individual PhD program application, and the VTSI supplemental components by December 1, 2024. All supporting materials including letters of recommendation also must be received by December 1.

More details about VTSI

VTSI Informational Webinar

Frequently Asked Questions

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What financial support is available for PhD students?

Every student admitted to the program is supported by a full tuition waiver, health insurance, and a stipend renewable through the student’s fifth year in the program.

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Are GREs required to apply to the PhD program?

No. GRE scores are NOT accepted or used as part of the admissions process.

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Is a master's degree required to apply to the PhD program?

Many admitted students have completed master’s degrees, but others have not. You may apply directly from an undergraduate program.

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Are international students eligible for admission to the PhD program?

Yes. Upon admission, international students must consult with the Office of International Services ois.jhu.edu for information about visa requirements, etc.

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What do graduates do after earning the PhD in Functional Anatomy and Evolution?

Graduates typically accept positions teaching human anatomy to health care students within a university setting. Alumni currently hold faculty positions at Penn State University, Duke University, and the University of Manchester. See a full PhD Graduate Program alumni list.

Resources

For more information on graduate education at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, visit the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Graduate Programs and the Graduate Admissions sites.

Contact Information

Ms. Sam Lyall ([email protected]), Administrative Program Coordinator
Dr. Adam Sylvester ([email protected]) PhD Graduate Program Director