Dissertation Research - Dual (DVM/PhD) Degree Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine

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Cornell Dual (DVM/PhD) Degree Program

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Dissertation Research

The three major Graduate School requirements for the PhD degree are registration units, examinations, and the thesis or dissertation.

Registration Units

One regitration unit (RU) corresponds to the satisfactory completion of one acadmic semester of full-time study and research. Six registration units are the minimum requirement for the PhD degree; two of these must be earned after the A-exam.

Examinations

Examination for Admission to PhD Candidacy ("A-Exam")

A student is admitted to doctoral candidacy after passing a comprehensive examination administered by his or her special committee. This examination is either oral or written and oral, as determined by the special committee. The passing of this examination certifies that the student is eligible to present a dissertation to the graduate faculty. The A Exam may be taken after two registration units have been accumulated in a PhD degree program.

Final Examination for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree ("B-Exam")

A doctoral candidate takes the Final Examination upon completion of all requirements for the degree but no earlier than one month before completion of the minimum registration unit requirement. A minimum of two registration units must be earned between passing the A exam and scheduling the B exam. This oral exam covers the general subject of the dissertation.

Thesis or Dissertation

Requirements for Thesis/Dissertation

PhD degree students must present a dissertation - including an abstract not to exceed 350 words, signed by the special committee chair - acceptable in scholarship and literary quality. Acceptance of the thesis or dissertation requires the approval of all the special committee members. Ordinarily, the thesis or dissertation is written in the student's major subject of study and under the direction of the chair of the special committee. With the approval of the committee, a student may elect to write the thesis or dissertation under the direction of the representative of a minor subject.

Below are selected theses representing the five graduate fields administered in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Comparative Biomedical Sciences

Rachel Geisel, 2005. "Interaction of the Cell Wall Lipids of Mycobacterium Bovis Bacille Calmette-Guerin and the Innate Immune System"
Laurie Goodrich, 2005. "Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Gene Therapy for Articular Cartilage Repair"
Myrna Miller, 2005. "Positive and Negative Regulation of Transcription from the Chicken Infectious Anemia Virus Promoter-Enhancer and Implications for Latency and Activation"
Thomas Forest, 2005. "Intranuclear Herpes Simplex Virus Traffic"
Reina Fuji, 2005. "Biochemical Studies of DBL-Transformation"

Immunology

Soumaya Bennouna, 2005. "Function of Neutrophils and Dendritic Cells During Microbial Infection"

Pharmacology

Bruce Kornreich, 2005. "Functional Modulation of the GluR6 Kainate Receptor: Identification of Residues Involved in PKA-Mediated Potentation and Desensitization"
Amarilys Sanchez, 2005. "Formulation, In Vitro Characterization and In Vivo Evaluation of a Biodegradable Camptothecin Sustained Release Delivery System for Intratumoral Treatments of Transplanted Breast Cancer Cells"
One Pagan, 2005. "Synthetic Local Anesthetics as Alleviators of Cocaine Inhibition of the Human Dopamine Transporter"

Physiology

Ming-Juin Yu, 2004. "Hormone-Regulated Channel-Like Tight Junction Permeability in Malpighian Tubules of Aedes Aegypti"
Darlene Campbell, 2005. "Using Oil Droplets to Map the Distribution of Cones in the Anoline Retina"

Zoology

Almira Hoogesteyn, 2003. "Neurologic Development of the Song Control Circuit in Zebra Finches: A New Model for the Evaluation of Endocrine Disruption"
Jessica Ward, 2005. "Ecology of Marine Diseases: Coral Reef Community Diversity, Host Resistance, and Climate Change"