DATE: March 12, 2008

CONTACT: Rosanne Pruitt, (864) 656-5528
prosan@clemson.edu

WRITER: Ross Norton, (864) 624-9566
rnorton@clemson.edu

Clemson rolls out first Ph.D. program in health-care genetics

CLEMSON — Clemson University will offer the country’s first interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in health-care genetics.

Approved in January by the state Commission on Higher Education and given the green light this month by the academic accrediting agency Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the program takes an interdisciplinary approach to scholarly work in genetics and health care.

Graduates of the program will find careers in a broad range of professions from genetic epidemiology to industry research. The program also will prepare university professors in nursing and other disciplines.

“The impact of genetics on health care has the potential to be greater than any earlier scientific advancement. For all of that promise to meet its full potential, health-care providers and scientists must work together in developing new skills and practices,” said Rosanne Pruitt, director of the Clemson University School of Nursing. “This Ph.D. in health-care genetics will help build that collaborative culture by pulling on expertise from many disciplines.”

The program will be housed in the School of Nursing, but tap deeply into other areas of the university and off-campus partners like the Greenwood Genetics Center, Bon Secours St. Francis Health System and the University of Iowa. On-campus partners include the Clemson University Genomic Institute; the Strom Thurmond Institute; the Eugene T. Moore School of Education; the departments of psychology, political science and genetics and biochemistry; and the LPN to Professor program, which includes AnMed Health, Oconee Memorial Hospital, Palmetto Baptist Hospital and Cannon Memorial Hospital with the Duke Endowment.

“In recent years, a surge of new information and research in genetics has outpaced policies and practices,” said Julie Eggert, doctoral program coordinator for the School of Nursing. “We plan to facilitate interdisciplinary development and application of ethical guidelines and health policy in genetics while translating the expanding knowledge of genetics from ‘bench to bedside.' ”

The program expects to enroll six students in the first year and grow to about 20 over the next four years.