Physiology is the cornerstone of modern biomedical sciences. Physiology is the study of function and how biological systems operate. Physiology spans all levels of organization from the molecule to the whole organism. Moreover, physiology seeks to apply the principles, methodologies, and emerging technologies of the chemical, computational, and physical sciences to biological processes. Francis Collins, in his role as Director of the National Center for Human Genome Research at NIH, remarked, "The next important phase of scientific development must be directed towards understanding the functional expression of genes and the study of physiological systems under the control of these newly discovered nucleotide sequences." Therefore, it should not be a surprise that our faculty use varied methods that include the exploration of molecular structure, study of the fundamental functions of cells, examination of the cellular and molecular bases of disease, and translation of this basic science into developing new therapeutic approaches. These approaches lie at the interface of the biological and medical sciences.

Mission of the Department. The Department has two fundamental missions. First, as a basic science department, we must be fully engaged in the research enterprise at Emory. The goal is to provide an environment in which researchers will thrive and be successful in their quest for extramural support to support their research. Second, Physiology represents a core discipline underlying medicine; therefore, we have a major commitment to supporting the development and teaching of the strongest medical school curriculum possible.

Specific Goals of the Department within the next five-year period. The goal of the department will be to develop the research quality of the Department so that at the end of the five-year strategic-plan period, we will be in the top ten Physiology Departments in the nation. We will accomplish this larger goal by implementing several specific goals.

Develop a presence in genomics and proteomics. Functional (also known as physiological) genomics and proteomics are the gateways to all the important directions of contemporary physiology. This goal will capitalize on the technological expertise at Emory and Georgia Tech in several cutting-edge areas, including nanobiology, imaging, and genomics/metabolomics.

Reinforce the commitment to spinal cord and developmental neuroscience. The Department has always had a presence in neuroscience. We will further develop this presence by recruiting new neuroscientists with particular emphasis on establishing interactions that would support the new Neuroscience Institute and interface with the Rehabilitation Medicine Center to promote translational research in spinal cord injury

Promote Systems Biology within the Department and elsewhere on campus. Systems biology is the study of the interactions between the components of biological systems and how these interactions give rise to the function and behavior of those biological systems. Such studies will usually involve computational modeling to propose specific testable hypotheses about a biological system, experimental validation, and then using the newly acquired quantitative description of cells or cell processes to refine the computational model or theory.

Strengthen the Department’s commitment to cellular signaling. The Department has also always had a presence in cellular signaling and cellular homeostasis. This area of research establishes the basis for understanding how cells integrate into tissues, organs and finally whole organisms. We will continue this development.

Maintain a commitment to support the “Healthy Human” and “Diseased Human” components of the new medical school curriculum. The new curriculum is faculty intensive and provides a new model for the interaction between basic science faculty, clinical science faculty, and students. The Physiology Department has contributed extensively to the development and teaching of both the “Introduction to Medicine” and the organ systems section of the curriculum. Quality teaching remains a major mission of the Department. We are also committed to providing students who desire a research experience the opportunity for relevant physiological research particularly in conjunction with clinical colleagues who have joint appointments or strong relationships with the Department.

Each of the areas described above are areas in which we will recruit new faculty. Ideally, these faculty will bridge one or more of the areas and will represent different levels of seniority.

As Professor and Chair I invite you to browse the rest of this homepage and, if you have any questions about Physiology, please feel free to contact me at (404) 727-7421, (404) 727-0329 (Fax), or email: douglas.eaton@emory.edu.