The Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology was founded in 1972 as part of the institutional reorganization to an academic health science center. Originally part of the Department of Physiology and Medicine, the independent department became part of what is now the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, reporting to the Dean of the graduate school. In 2012, the basic science departments were brought under the umbrella of the School of Medicine with the Departmental administration reporting to the Dean of the School of Medicine.

The Department is renowned and has a long history of making seminal contributions in many scientific areas including cardiovascular physiology, neurophysiology and the physiological basis of aging. In the past decade or so, the Department has seen a major expansion in the area of neuroscience and neurological disorders. In the coming years, we also expect to expand in the area of physiology with a focus on neurovascular systems.

As part of our academic mission, our faculty engage in the training and education of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The graduate students are admitted through a highly competitive admission process managed by the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences under the Integrated Biomedical Sciences program.

Our scientists use sophisticated genetic and molecular methodologies in combination with optical tools, to unravel the fundamental mechanisms that underlie tissue and cellular physiology, and how these processes are compromised in injury and disease. Many cutting edge research areas being actively pursued include ion channel physiology and modulation, neuromodulatory behavioral mechanisms, glial biology and role of glia in disease, traumatic brain injury, neurovascular mechanisms of cardiac function, cardioprotection pathways and renal salt homeostasis. Another major research area deals with stems cells and age-related neurological pathologies like the Alzheimer’s disease, and how caloric restriction may slow the aging process. Faculty engaged in aging-related studies are part of the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies.