Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Data Sciences & Informatics

The Ph.D. in Biomedical Data Science and Informatics is a research degree. Students will have the opportunity to work directly with faculty on research related to data science and informatics, and to actively engage in developing research proposals, conducting research, writing abstracts and manuscripts, and presenting findings. 

Specialized tracks will initially include precision medicine, population health, and clinical and translational informatics. 

• Precision medicine focuses on disease treatment and prevention and takes into account individual variability in genes, environment and lifestyle. 
• Population health addresses the health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of such outcomes within the group. 
• Clinical and translational informatics focuses on delivery of healthcare services and the translation of scientific discoveries from the bench to medical care at the bedside. 

Additional tracks may be developed to meet emerging research interests and health needs.

Each student will work with the graduate coordinator, academic advisor, and dissertation committee to construct a program of study that conforms to the requirements outlined below and takes into account both the student’s prior preparation and intended research area. In cases where the student comes to the program with prior coursework in a required area, the graduate coordinator may approve a substitution. In cases where a student lacks pre-requisites for a required course, the student will be asked to complete both the pre-requisite coursework and the required course. Because the curriculum will be tailored to each student, the time needed to complete the degree will vary, but in general, it is expected that students can complete the degree in five years or less. 

Coursework (65-68 credit hours): 

• Area I - Biomedical Informatics Foundations & Applications: 15-16 credit hours
• Area II - Computing, Math, Statistics, & Engineering: 18 credit hours
• Area III - Population Health, Health Systems, & Policy: 5-6 credit hours
• Area IV - Domain Biology/Medicine: 3-4 credit hours
• Area V - Lab rotations, seminars, doctoral research: 24 credit hours 

Additional requirements include passing a qualifying exam, a dissertation proposal, and ultimately a dissertation and its defense.

Students will have a designated "home institution" -- either Clemson or MUSC -- at which they will be physically located. However, all students in this program will take graduate classes from both institutions. Students will not be required to travel between campuses as courses will be made available to students both on-campus and via synchronous remote capability. Courses will be offered at the Clemson main campus, MUSC main campus, the University Center at Greenville, and the Zucker Family Graduate Education Center (on CURI campus, North Charleston).

This doctoral program is a research degree. Students will pursue one of three track specialty areas which include precision medicine, population health, and clinical and translational informatics. All students will have the opportunity to work directly with one or more program faculty members on research related to data science and informatics. Doctoral students will be immersed in the research environment and will actively engage in authoring research proposals, conducting research, writing abstracts and manuscripts, and presenting research findings.

*This course is delivered through Clemson University as part of a joint Biomedical Data Science and Informatics program.

Area I - Biomedical Informatics Foundations and Applications

Area II - Computing, Math, Statistics, and Engineering

Area III - Population Health, Health Systems, and Policy

Area IV - Domain Biology/Medicine

Area V - Lab Rotations, Seminars, Doctoral Research

Dissertation Advisory Committee 

Students should select a Dissertation Advisor once they have selected an area of research by the end of the student’s first year and prior to taking the advanced qualifying exam. While faculty at the student’s non-home institution can co-chair a student’s Dissertation Advisory Committee, all Dissertation Advisors must have their primary appointment in the student’s home institution and must be versed in biomedical data science and informatics. Additionally, the Dissertation Advisor must be a full member of either MUSC’s Graduate Faculty of the College of Graduate Studies or Clemson’s Graduate Faculty. Once the Dissertation Advisor is selected, the student should meet with the Advisor as often as needed to discuss course selection and research.

It is the responsibility of the Dissertation Advisor, in consultation with the student, to select a Dissertation Advisory Committee. The Dissertation Advisory Committee will guide the student’s research and assume responsibility for the student’s progress toward the degree. 

Once established, students should attempt to meet formally with their entire committee at least once each semester. Students will work with their Dissertation Advisor and Dissertation Committee to prepare a Dissertation proposal (see next section). Selection of the student’s dissertation committee members, including the Dissertation Advisor, requires the mutual consent of the student and the faculty selected. A student is free to dissolve an existing committee and form a new one at any time. Similarly, the Dissertation Advisor is free to step down, and committee members to leave the committee, if research interests change or relationships prove incompatible. 

Dissertation Committee Selection

Students will be asked to select their dissertation committee prior to taking the advanced qualifying exam. 

The composition of the Committee is as follows: 

• The committee must be composed of at least 5 members.
• The student’s Dissertation Advisor must serve as the committee chair and must come from the student’s home institution.
• At least 1 committee member must be from the student’s non-home institution.
• At least three committee members must be designated as BDSI core faculty.

At MUSC, both the Dissertation Advisor and the Dissertation Advisory Committee must be approved by the Graduate Training Director and the Department Chair.

At Clemson, the dissertation committee is selected and approved through the submission of the GS2-Committee Selection. Directions and filing deadlines for the GS2-Committee Selection can be found at https://www.clemson.edu/graduate/academics/plan-of-study.html.  

Our program recognizes the value of internships and industry experience. Students who are interested in completing an internship during the program (typically in summer following the first or second year of the program) should consult with their Advisor and the Program Director of their home institution. The internship experience should be related to the student’s dissertation research and have application to the program curriculum. Prior to the internship, the student and advisor must submit a written statement via email to the Program Coordinator explaining how the internship is integral to the program, how it benefits the student’s research, and outlining the learning objectives for the internship Once approved, the student may apply for the internship experience.

Internships should typically occur during the summer term. In rare circumstances, internships may take place during the fall or spring term. Generally speaking, doctoral students will not enroll full-time while on an internship, and any funding requiring full-time enrollment will be suspended until the student returns to full-time status.

At MUSC, approved, credit-bearing internships may fulfill the coursework requirements for Area V (Lab rotations, seminars, doctoral research, approved internships). At Clemson, doctoral students will not enroll full-time while on an internship and will instead enroll in a zero-credit hour internship course coordinated by the University’s Center for Career and Professional Development.

Laboratory rotations are required for all students and should occur at the student’s home institution. A minimum of 2 rotations with two different laboratories are required unless a request for exemption has been approved by the program coordinator at the student’s home institution. Laboratory rotations are typically completed during the fall, spring, or subsequent summer of the student’s first year. Three rotations with three different labs are encouraged to enrich the student’s research experience and increase exposure to faculty members’ research. Each rotation will typically last one semester.

All students participating in lab rotations during a given semester will be required to attend a preliminary session led by the Program Coordinators. These sessions will typically be scheduled before the semester begins and will outline additional expectations regarding lab rotation objectives and deliverables.

Students entering the program with a Dissertation Advisor already identified may be allowed to fulfill their rotation requirements by rotating with their Dissertation Advisor and a second member of their Dissertation Advisory Committee. Requests of this type should be referred to the program coordinator at the student’s home institution.

Students must complete their qualifying exam by the end of their second year. The examination is offered once per year on a determined date and is prepared by the BDSI Student Progress Committee (typically in August). At Clemson, a student must submit their GS2-committee selection prior to sitting for their exam. The Student Progress Committee hosts an information session each Spring to provide details about the exam and answer student questions. The examination assesses competency in Areas I-IV as outlined in the curriculum. Questions for each of the four Areas are graded Pass/Fail. 

There are three possible results for the exam: 

1. The student receives a Pass in all four Areas, and therefore receives a PASS for the exam as a whole. 
2. The student receives a Pass in two or fewer Areas, and therefore receives a FAIL for the exam as a whole. 
3. The student receives a Pass in three Areas. The student must then take a follow-up examination, designed and administered by the Student Progress Committee within half a year of the original exam date, focusing specifically on the Area not passed. The overall exam result will then become either PASS or FAIL depending on the outcome of the follow-up. 

A student who receives a grade of FAIL for their first attempt must re-take the full qualifying exam the next year. For a student who receives a grade of FAIL on their second attempt, the BDSI executive committee will convene to confirm their dismissal from the program. The purpose of doctoral qualifying exams is for students to demonstrate their competencies in key areas of their specific field. Students may consult online resources but are not allowed to use generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT) on any component of their qualifying exam. 

Dissertation Proposal 

After passing the advanced qualifying exam, students should prepare a Dissertation Proposal in consultation with their Dissertation Advisory Committee. Students should complete their proposal defense within one year of passing their qualifying exam. At MUSC, the topic chosen for the thesis or dissertation must be approved by the Department Chair for Public Health Sciences, with regard to the scope of research and the availability and utilization of departmental resources, as well as by the Dean of the College of Graduate Studies.

The Dissertation Proposal should identify either a methodological problem or a hypothesis to be tested and describe the design and approach for addressing the proposed problem. This proposal should show evidence of creative integration of course material, as well as a sound understanding of the relevant literature, and should follow the format of a National Institute of Health (NIH) F31 grant proposal or National Science Foundation (NSF) grant application. An NIH-style proposal should include a specific aims page along with six pages explaining the proposal's significance, innovation, and approach, as well as an additional chapter of literature review of approximately 5,000 words. An NSF-style proposal should include a summary page along with 15 pages of project description. In the NSF-style proposal, the project description should include a thorough literature review. The list of references in the bibliography will not be included in any of the required page counts

Once completed, students should schedule their proposal defense at least one month prior to the presentation date and submit a written copy of their Dissertation Proposal to each member of their Dissertation Committee, allowing a minimum of two weeks prior to the proposal’s presentation for review of the written document. At MUSC, the student also notifies the Public Health Sciences Department Chair and the Graduate Training Director of the date and submits a copy of the Dissertation Proposal to both.

Students should consult the Graduate Services Coordinator at their home institution for details regarding the scheduling protocol and approval process for their Dissertation Proposal. On the date of the scheduled proposal, the student will present the Dissertation Proposal publicly, then defend the plan to their dissertation committee during a closed-door session. The public presentation should begin with a formal 45–50-minute presentation that outlines the student’s research questions, their significance, and the methods proposed for their solution. The presentation is then followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience before the student completes the closed-door session with their Dissertation Committee.

If the proposal is not approved, it may be repeated an indefinite number of times, subject to the consent of the Committee. Upon successful completion of both the qualifying examination and the proposal defense, the Dissertation Advisory Committee recommends that the student be admitted to candidacy by their signatures on the Admission to Candidacy form at MUSC, and on the Research Approval Form at Clemson. A successful proposal must occur at least one year prior to the date of the student's final dissertation defense.

Ph.D. Dissertation

A dissertation based on original investigation is required of all Ph.D. students. The dissertation must give evidence of mature scholarship and critical judgment, demonstrate methodologic rigor indicating knowledge of research methods and techniques, and demonstrate the student's ability to carry out independent investigation.

Students should strive to present the results of their research at a national or international meeting of a professional society and to publish their results in a peer-reviewed professional journal prior to graduation. A distinguished publication record is considered by the academic community as the primary indicator of professional qualification in the sciences.

For formatting guidelines and submission protocol, students should consult the Graduate Services Coordinator at their home institution.

Oral Defense of Doctoral Dissertation

Each Ph.D. candidate is required to pass a final oral examination directed primarily to the defense of the dissertation. The defense of the dissertation is a rigorous examination intended to test the student’s knowledge of the research covered in the dissertation, as well as their general knowledge of the related fields of study. The dissertation defense begins with a formal 45–50-minute public presentation describing the research methods and results, which is followed by questions from the audience. The candidate's Dissertation Committee then conducts an oral examination in a closed-door session to test the candidate's understanding of the area of research. Performance on this examination must receive approval from the student's Dissertation Committee before the student will be recommended for the Ph.D. degree.

Students should schedule their dissertation defense at least one month prior to the presentation date and submit a written copy of their dissertation to each member of their Dissertation Committee, allowing a minimum of two weeks prior to the dissertation defense for review of the written document Students should consult the Graduate Services Coordinator at their home institution for detail regarding the scheduling protocol for their oral defense.