Program Description

The biology program at Purchase College embodies the excitement of the dramatic advances in this rapidly expanding field. Students actively participate in the life sciences, studying and pursuing research with faculty who are active and accomplished in their fields. Classes are small and instruction is often individual. Independent study and the senior research project allow students to apply their knowledge and skills to meaningful research projects with a faculty mentor. Seniors present their results at our student symposium, and many senior projects have been published.

Students use sophisticated equipment in classes and research projects, including scanning and transmission electron microscopes, fluorescence light microscopes, digital imaging, recombinant DNA facilities, DNA sequencer, PCR thermocycler, cell- and tissue-culture facilities, ultracentrifuges, environmental chambers, and assorted analytical instruments.

Careers in biology may be pursued from a variety of perspectives, and our majors are well prepared for graduate school, teaching, and careers in high-tech industries. The biology major also provides an excellent preparation for entrance to and success in medical, dental, and veterinary schools, and in other allied health programs.

Program Faculty

Requirements for the Major

Biology majors may complete either the BA or the BS degree, and may follow their own interests or concentrate in cellular and molecular biology, evolutionary and behavioral biology, bioresearch technology, marine biology and ecology, genetics, microscopy and imaging, or biochemistry. Please visit the biology site in Academic Programs for complete information.

Representative Courses

General Biology I & II
General Chemistry I & II
Organic Chemistry & II
Animal Physiology
Cell Biology
Developmental Biology
Evolution
Genetics
Immunology
Microbiology
Molecular Biology
Scanning Electron Microscopy and Digital Imaging
Transmission Electron Microscopy and Cell Ultrastructure
Vertebrate Zoology

Representative Alumni

• Jill Bargonetti-Chavarria ’85, PhD, New York University; molecular biologist and renowned cancer researcher; professor of biology, Hunter College, City University of New York
• Catharine Boothroyd ’99, PhD, Rockefeller University; postdoctoral researcher studying sleeping sickness
• Elizabeth A. Bundock ’92, MD, PhD, Rosalin Franklin University of Medicine and Science; deputy chief medical examiner, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Vermont Department of Health
• Kaitlin Carr ’09, doctoral student in physical therapy, Hunter College, City University of New York
• Woojin Chong ’06, MD, University of South Florida College of Medicine; ob-gyn resident, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• Tetyana Forostyan ’07, PhD student in molecular biology, University of Utah
• Anatoly Goltzer ’06, MD, Drexel University College of Medicine; emergency medicine resident, Maimonides Medical Center
• Kendall Harousseau ’04, MS, Mercy College; physician assistant at ambulatory surgical center
• Robert Ilowite ’88, DO, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; practicing dermatologist, Hillsborough, NJ
• Mark Jonas ’03, PhD student in ecology and evolution, Stony Brook University, State University of New York
• Daniel Pomeranz Krummel ’93, PhD, Yale University; assistant professor of biochemistry, Brandeis University; postdoctoral fellow, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK
• Timothy LaRocca ’04, PhD, Stony Brook University School of Medicine; molecular microbiologist
• Jeremy Luban ’82, MD, Columbia University; a leading scientist in the field of HIV-1 virology; professor of microbiology and molecular medicine, University of Geneva
• Kanan Modhwadia ’03, MD; psychiatry resident, Harvard Medical School
• Jared Munir ’08, ME, Cornell University; biomedical engineer
• Bruce Peterson ’97, MD; attending pathologist at Mount Sinai Hospital; hematopathologist
• Chris Petzold ’03, electron microscopist, New York University
• Ali Sharma ’03, PhD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; postdoctoral fellow, Weill-Cornell Medical College, Department of Pharmacology
• Josh Syken ’95, PhD and research fellow in neurobiology, Harvard Medical School
• Sandra Viens ’05, forensic toxicologist, Westchester County Department of Labs and Research
• Christian Zietsman ’09, dental student, Stony Brook University, State University of New York

For more information, visit the Biology site in Academic Programs or email sciences@purchase.edu.

Updated June 6, 2011

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