Health Science

Health Science

BS
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Human Physiology

Human Physiology

BS BS/MS Minor MS PhD

Nutrition/Dietetics

Nutrition/Dietetics

BS MS MS+DI DPD/MS + DI

Public Health

Public Health

Minor BS/MPH

About the Department of Health Sciences

Why do muscles enlarge from a workout and atrophy from certain diseases? Why do strokes occur? What happens inside your brain when you hear or walk or remember? How can eating disorders be treated? What are the latest findings on autism? The hottest topics in neuroscience?

Our Health Sciences department has answers to a dizzying range of questions. It’s the largest department at BU Sargent College, with the broadest range of programs and career possibilities. Where you’ll go with the strong scientific foundation you’ll build here—on to medical school or into nutrition, neuroscience, public health, or private industry, to name just a few—is up to you.

Commitment to Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism

The Health Sciences Department condemns discrimination in all forms and recognizes our role in providing an inclusive educational environment and experience while working to dismantle oppression in the fields of health science, global public health, human physiology, and nutrition. We acknowledge this statement as a starting point for our socially just, antiracist, anti-imperialist, anti-heteronormative, and anti-abelist work. We are committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in science and beyond, and strive to counteract the underrepresentation of many racial and ethnic, disability, economically disadvantaged, female-identifying, and LGBTQIA+ identities in the scientific community. Read our full statement and action plan for equity, inclusion, and anti-racism.

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Health Sciences Chair

Clinical Professor and Chair, Department of Health Sciences

Eileen B. O’Keefe, MD, MPH

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Our Health Sciences faculty pursue discoveries and treatments in dozens of areas, from molecular physiology to cognition processing to what triggers preterm labor. Projects are often interdisciplinary because the interests of our growing faculty are, too. Many professors hold joint appointments in BU's Medical Campus departments, and three are currently serving on NIH peer review committees. Our Faculty

Program Directors

Program Director and Clinical Assistant Professor, Human Physiology

Dustin Allen, PhD

Program Director and Clinical Associate Professor, Health Science

Shelley M. Brown, PhD, MPH

Program Director and Clinical Assistant Professor, Nutrition

Stacey A. Zawacki, DrPH, RDN

Associate Professor and Program Director, PhD in Human Physiology

Vasileios Zikopoulos, Ph.D.

Centers and Labs