The Research Experience

UC San Diego's Department of Neurosciences is at the core of one of the world's most vibrant basic and clinical neurosciences environments, and residents who wish to continue or begin research studies during their residency training are given every opportunity.

Variety of Opportunities

Residents may work with members of our clinical neurology or basic neurosciences faculty, with faculty in other UC San Diego departments (such as psychiatry, biology, or cognitive psychology) who also do neurosciences research, or with other neurosciences group faculty located at affiliated institutions such as The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Scripps Research Institute.

A large graduate program

The UC San Diego Department of Neurosciences houses a large graduate program with a faculty of over 130 neuroscientists and over 70 graduate students. Residents may use the graduate program or other San Diego neurosciences faculty to participate in research projects ranging from molecular biology to patient studies.

Major clinical research programs

We have major clinical research programs in Alzheimer's disease, stroke, Parkinson's disease, neuromuscular disorders, epilepsy, and HIV/AIDS neurology. Many of these programs maintain large databases that can be used by residents for research projects.

Drug trials in clinical programs

Many drug trials are carried out by all of our clinical programs. Residents may participate in these trials during their inpatient or outpatient rotations or during elective time.

Publish papers

Some residents present papers, publish abstracts, and publish papers that result from their residency program research.