The ICTR Graduate Program in Clinical Investigation includes a PhD program in Clinical Investigation (PhD CI), an MS in Clinical Investigation, and a PhD minor in Clinical Investigations also known as a PhD with a Clinical and Translational Science focus (PhDCTS). All students share a common didactic foundation encompassing biostatistics, epidemiology, clinical study design, clinical trials conduct, and the ethical and responsible conduct of research.
The PhD CI is an applied degree in which trainees focus on the creation of novel methodologies and tools for translational science within the context of a specific biomedical discipline.
The PhDCTS leverages the core curriculum to give trainees in other degree programs the skills and tools necessary to move their biomedical research along the translational pathway.
Program Overview Brochure (PDF)
Online Application for MS and PhD in Clinical Investigation
For questions, please contact studentinquiry@ictr.wisc.edu
New: Clinical & Health Informatics MS degree program is now taking applications.
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PhD in Clinical Investigation
Learning Objectives
Students earning a PhD in Clinical Investigation must demonstrate distinctive attainment in a specific field and ability for independent investigation, through defense of a research dissertation and through coursework.
While earning the degree, the PhD student works toward the following learning objectives:
- Determine when it is and is not appropriate to use a multidisciplinary patient-oriented research design to investigate a therapeutic problem.
- Conceptualize and design multidisciplinary patient-oriented research protocols.
- Execute multidisciplinary therapeutic intervention studies.
- Interpret and report research findings using the expertise of collaborators in multiple disciplines.
- Disseminate knowledge through teaching and mentoring students/trainees.
- Lead programs that integrate clinical and translational science across multiple departments, schools and colleges, clinical and research institutes, and healthcare delivery organizations.
- Translate research from the laboratory to the clinic through technological innovations, such as drug therapies, medical devices or biological materials (“bench to bedside”).
ICTR governs the PhD program jointly with representatives of its academic partners; faculty members from each academic partner serve as instructors, advisors, and leaders in the graduate program.
Reference Materials:
Admissions Minimum Requirements (PDF)
Funding (PDF)
Updated: 11/2/2022
MS in Clinical Investigation
Learning Objectives
Students in the Masters in Clinical Investigation program formulate a research question, investigate a problem or issue, report the results, and discuss the findings and implications of a study. Courses are complemented by research, culminating in defense of a master’s thesis.
Before applying to the program, the student meets with a potential faculty advisor to discuss research topics and project ideas that will be needed for the application. After admission, the student has further opportunities to refine the research strategy. During the final year of coursework, the student conducts the research project, and meets frequently with the major advisor, who will monitor progress and provide feedback. Near the end of the final year of coursework, the student completes the project and begins to prepare the thesis manuscript.
Through coursework and research, the MS student works toward the following learning objectives:
- Determine when it is and is not appropriate to use a multidisciplinary patient-oriented research design to investigate a therapeutic problem.
- Conceptualize and design multidisciplinary patient-oriented research protocols.
- Execute multidisciplinary therapeutic intervention studies.
- Interpret and report research findings using the expertise of collaborators in multiple disciplines.
- Contribute to the leadership of programs that integrate clinical and translational science across multiple departments, schools and colleges, clinical and research institutes, and healthcare delivery organizations.
- Translate research from the laboratory to the clinic through technological innovations, such as drug therapies, medical devices or biological materials (“bench to bedside”), as an active participant in a multidisciplinary clinical research team.
ICTR governs the MS program jointly with representatives of its academic partners; faculty members from each academic partner serve as instructors, advisors, and leaders in the graduate program.
Reference Materials:
Admissions Minimum Requirements (PDF)
Funding (PDF)
Updated: 11/2/2022
PhD Minor in Clinical Investigation - Applications Accepted Year Round
Learning Objectives
Doctoral students in Engineering, Nursing, Veterinary Medicine, and other disciplines can declare a PhD minor with a focus in Clinical and Translation Science to learn about applications of research to clinical disciplines. This provides students with a general education in interdisciplinary clinical research, while emphasizing a scientific area of graduate study. The PhD Minor in Clinical Investigation is also known as the PhDCTS.
The minor requires 10 credits including three required courses and a fourth elective required course:
Biostatistics and Medical Informatics 541: Introduction to Biostatistics (3 credits, Fall)
Biostatistics and Medical Informatics 542: Introduction to Clinical Trials I (3 credits, Spring)
One lecture course in the Responsible Conduct of Research (1-2 credits) selected from an approved list
Elective courses to reach at least 10 credits total, selected from the following list of options:
Biostatistics and Medical Informatics 544: Introduction to Clinical Trials II (3 credits, Fall)
Nursing 705: Seminar in Interdisciplinary Clinical Research Evidence (2 credits, Summer)
Population Health 797: Introduction to Epidemiology (3 credits, Fall)
Reference Materials:
Form to declare CTS focus (PDF)
Updated: 08/24/2022
Program Faculty/Major Advisors
- Sanjay Asthana, MD
Title/Dept: Professor, Medicine (Geriatrics); Director ADRC; Director GRECC; Associate Director, WI Alzheimer’s Institute
Research: Alzheimer’s, aging - Bruce Barrett, MD, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Family Medicine, Population Health & Anthropology
Research: Primary care, especially for special populations - Christian Capitini, MD
Title/Dept: Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
Research: Preclinical models of allogeneic blood and marrow transplant to cure pediatric cancers - Toby Campbell, MD
Title/Dept: Associate Professor, Medicine (Hematology-Oncology)
Research: Lung cancer, symptom management, communication and palliative care - Richard Chappell, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Statistics & Biostatistics and Medical Informatics
Research: Analysis and design of clinical trials, link estimation in generalized linear models, survival analysis, models in radiobiology - Robert Dempsey, MD
Title/Dept: Professor, Neurology; Chair, Surgery
Research: Cerebral ischemia, injured brain repair - Doerte Doepfer, DVM
Title/Dept: Professor, Veterinary Medicine (Food Animal Production Medicine)
Research: Veterinary epidemiology, food safety, global health - Marina Emborg, MD, PhD
Title/Dept: Associate Professor, Medical Physics
Research: Neurodegenerative disorders - Amy Fowler, MD, PhD
Title/Dept: Assistant Professor, Radiology
Research: Molecular imaging biomarkers to assess early therapeutic response for breast cancer in preclinical and translational clinical studies - Ronald Gangnon, PhD
Title/Dept: Associate Professor, Biostatistics and Medical Informatics
Research: Model selection, measurement reliability, survival analysis, interim monitoring - James Gern, MD
Title/Dept: Professor, Medicine & Pediatrics
Research: Asthma, interaction between host and viral factors affecting respiratory illness severity - Bernadette Gillick, PhD, MSPT, PT
Title/Department: Associate Professor, Pediatrics; Director, Waisman Pediatric Neuromodulation Laboratory; Director, ICTR Research Design
Research: Infant Stroke and Brain Bleeds, Cerebral Palsy - Andrea Gilmore-Bykovskyi, PhD, RN
Title/Dept: Associate Professor & Vice Chair for Research, Emergency Medicine; Deputy Director, UW Center for Health Disparities Research
Research: Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, health services research, qualitative/mixed methods - Jenny Gumperz, PhD
Title/Dept: Associate Professor, Medical Microbiology and Immunology
Research: Immunology - Karen Hansen, MD, MS
Title/Dept: Associate Professor, Medicine (Rheumatology)
Research: Calcium absorption, bone mineral density - Bryan Heiderscheit, PT, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Orthopedics and Rehabilitation
Research: Human movement - Hrissanthi (Chris) Ikonomidou, MD, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Pediatric Neurology
Research: Brain development - Bermans Iskandar, MD
Title/Dept: Professor, Neurosurgery; Director Pediatric Neurosurgery Program
Research: Craniofacial repair, brachial plexus reconstruction, endoscopic surgery - Daniel Jackson, MD
Title/Dept: Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
Research: Pediatric allergy, asthma, immunology - Nizar Jarjour, MD
Title/Dept: Professor, Medicine (Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Pulmonary and Critical Care)
Research: Pulmonary and critical care medicine - Kyung Mann Kim, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Biostatistics and Medical Informatics
Research: Sequential methods of statistical analysis - Randall Kimple, MD, PhD
Title/Dept: Associate Professor, Medicine (Human Oncology)
Research: Specialize in treating patient with malignancies of the head and neck - Amy Kind, MD, PhD
Title/Dept: Associate Professor, Medicine (Geriatrics)
Research: Health disparities, geoanalytics, Alzheimer’s Disease - Lingjun Li, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemistry
Research: Peptide hormones, neurotransmitters - Wan Ju Li, PhD
Title/Dept: Associate Professor, Orthopedics and Rehabilitation
Research: Musculoskeletal tissue engineering, stem cell-based regenerative medicine, nanostructural biomaterial - Glenn Liu, MD
Title/Dept: Associate Professor, Medicine (Hematology)
Research: Genitourinary oncology, experimental therapeutics - Michael Lucey, MD
Title/Dept: Professor, Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Director, Liver Transplant Program
Research: Digestive tract, liver, pancreatic diseases - Sameer Mathur, MD, PhD
Title/Dept: Associate Professor, Medicine (Allergy & Clinical Immunology)
Research: Human peripheral blood eosinophils and epithelial cells - David O’Connor, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine & WI Primate Research Center
Research: HIV/AIDS pathogenesis - Robert Pearce, MD, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor & Chair, Anesthesiology
Research: Anesthetics and other drugs’ control of memory and consciousness - G. Mark Pyle, MD
Title/Dept: Professor, Surgery
Research: Monitoring during acoustic neuroma surgery; outcome studies in the surgical treatment of vertigo; measurements of middle function; development of cochlear and vestibular aqueducts - J. Carter Ralphe, MD
Title/Dept: Associate Professor, Pediatrics, Chief, Pediatric Cardiology
Research: Pediatric cardiology, genetics - Amish Raval, MD
Title/Dept: Associate Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine
Research: Interventional image guidance for complex catheter-based procedures - Scott Reeder, MD, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Radiology
Research: Liver diseases, new MRI methods - Nasia Safdar, MD, PhD
Title/Dept: Associate Professor, Infectious Disease
Research: Healthcare Associated Infections - Nader Sheibani, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Ophthalmology & Pharmacology
Research: Diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity - Maureen Smith, MD, MPH
Title/Dept: Professor, Population Health, Family Medicine and Community Health & Surgery
Research: Short/long-term health outcomes in patients with diabetes - Paul Sondel, MD, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Pediatrics
Research: Graft-versus-leukemia reactions, activation of anti-tumor immune destruction - Christine Sorkness, PharmD
Title/Dept: Professor, Pharmacy Practice
Research: Efficacy and safety of therapeutic agents for asthma and allergic diseases - M Suresh, DVM, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Pathobiological Sciences
Research: T cell memory, CD8+ T cell responses in chronic viral infections - Susan Thibeault, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Surgery (Otolaryngology), Communication Sciences and Disorders
Research: Molecular and genetic factors as basis of normal vocal fold tissue and its vibration - Giulio Tononi, MD, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Psychiatry
Research: Sleep and consciousness, the synaptic homeostatis hypothesis - Amy Trentham Dietz, PhD
Title/Dept: Professor, Population Health Sciences
Research: Breast cancer prevention, early detection, and outcomes - Arnold Wald, MD
Title/Dept: Professor, Medicine (Gastroenterology)
Research: Constipation, incontinence
Student Handbook
The Graduate Program in Clinical Investigation admitted its first MS and PhD students in 2009. The program was made possible by the 2007 funding for UW ICTR from a National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Award.
Graduate Program in Clinical Investigation Academic Policies and Procedures Handbook (PDF)