Department: Human Biology

Contacts

Office: Building 20
Mail Code: 94305-2160
Phone: (650) 725-0336
Email: humbioadvising@lists.stanford.edu
Web Site: https://humanbiology.stanford.edu

Courses offered by the Program in Human Biology are listed under the subject code HUMBIO on the Stanford Bulletin's ExploreCourses web site.

The program offers a Bachelor of Arts  and a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology, as well as a minor and an honors program.

Mission of the Undergraduate Program in Human Biology

The mission of the undergraduate program in Human Biology is to provide students with an interdisciplinary approach to understanding human beings from biological, behavioral, social, and cultural perspectives. Core courses train students to approach significant problems from a range of perspectives. As they progress through the major, each student pursues an individualized course of study that draws upon disciplines across the university and promotes a nuanced understanding of a substantive area. The program prepares majors to pursue advanced training in professional or graduate programs and to address issues that influence human welfare.

All Human Biology majors complete a 30-unit core sequence, normally in the sophomore year, which provides the foundation for the major. During the sophomore year, students consult with student advisors, choose a faculty advisor, and complete the declaration process. Together prospective majors and student advisors plan a road map of course work tailored to each student's unique Area of Concentration within Human Biology. Early planning and subsequent refining of an individualized course of study, in consultation with student and faculty advisors, are strengths and requirements of the program. The curriculum draws on faculty from across the University. To complete either a B.A. or B.S. in Human Biology, students must take courses from within the program and from other University departments. Many Human Biology majors go on to advanced training in professional schools or graduate programs in the behavioral, natural, and social sciences, including coterminal master's degree programs in other University departments. Additional information about the major may be obtained from the program's offices or at the Program in Human Biology website.

Student Advisors

Human Biology has a strong student advising program. Before declaring Human Biology as the undergraduate major, each student must meet with student advisors who assist in developing a coherent study plan based on an individualized Area of Concentration, and the selection of breadth, depth, and upper-division courses. The student advisors also assist students in selecting an appropriate faculty advisor and a suitable capstone experience for their Area of Concentration and career goals. Student advisors offer drop-in services during scheduled office hours every weekday. 

Faculty

Director: Lianne Kurina 

Associate Director: Katherine Preston

Director of Undergraduate Studies: Lianne Kurina

Honors Chair: Katherine Preston

Emeriti: (Professors) William H. Durham (Anthropology), David Lyons (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences/General Psychiatry and Psychology - Adult)

Professors: Julie C. Baker (Genetics), Laurence Baker (Health Research and Policy - Health Services Research), Laura Carstensen (Psychology), Rodolfo Dirzo (Biology), Heidi Feldman (Pediatrics/Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics), Paul Fisher (Neurology), Michael C. Frank (Psychology), Margaret Fuller (Developmental Biology), Christopher Gardner (Medicine - Stanford Prevention Research Center), Garry Gold (Radiology/Musculoskeletal Imaging), Brenda Golianu (Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine - Pediatrics), James J. Gross (Psychology), Joachim Hallmayer (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Development), H. Craig Heller (Biology), Jill Helms (Surgery - Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery), Richard Klein (Anthropology and Biology), Tanya Luhrmann (Anthropology),  Yvonne Maldonado (Pediatrics - Infectious Diseases/Health Research and Policy),  N. Grant Miller (Medicine/Primary Care and Outcomes Research), Roeland Nusse (Developmental Biology), Ruth O'Hara (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences/Public Mental Health and Population Sciences), Michael Ostacher (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences/Public Mental Health and Population Sciences), Amado Padilla (Education), Julie Parsonnet (Medicine/Infectious Diseases),Jonathan Pritchard (Biology and Genetics), Rob Reich (Political Science), Allan Reiss (Psychology and Behavior Sciences - Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research/Radiology), Robert Sapolsky (Biology, Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Neurosurgery), Gavin Sherlock (Genetics) Sara Singer (Medicine/Primary Care and Population Health),  William Talbot (Developmental Biology)

Associate Professors: Jason Andrews (Medicine/Infectious Diseases), Duana Fullwiley (Anthropology), Angela Garcia (Anthropology), Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert (Medicine/Primary Care and Outcomes Research), Karen Hirsch (Neurology), Peter Kao (Medicine/Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine), Michelle Monje-Deisseroth (Neurology), Jelena Obradovic (Education), Karen Parker (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences), Lee Sanders (Pediatrics - General Pediatrics), Aliya Saperstein (Sociology), Maya Rossin-Slater (Health Research and Policy - Health Services Research), Holly Tabor (Medicine/Primary Care and Population Health)

Assistant Professors: Geoffrey Abrams (Orthopaedic Surgery), Jorah Dannenberg (Philosophy), Denise Gill (Music – Ethnomusicology), Roanne Kantor (English), Anshul Kundaje (Genetics and Computer Science), Daniel Mason (Psychiatry), Victoria Parikh (Medicine/Cardiovascular Medicine), Maria Polyakova (Health Research and Policy - Health Services Research)

Professors (Research): , Marcia Stefanick (Medicine - Stanford Prevention Research Center/Obstetrics and Gynecology)

Associate Professors (Research): Philippe Mourrain (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences – Sleep Disorder/Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine), Jamie Zeitzer (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine)

Assistant Professors (Research):  Lisa Goldman Rosas (Epidemiology and Population Health)

Professors (Teaching): Gary Darmstadt (Pediatrics - Neonatology), Shashank Joshi (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences), David Magnus (Pediatrics/SCBE), Kristin Sainani (Epidemiology and Population Health), Robert Siegel (Microbiology and Immunology)

Associate Professors (Teaching): Catherine Heaney (Psychology/Medicine - Stanford Prevention Research Center), Lianne Kurina (Medicine/Primary Care and Population Health), Eunice Rodriguez (Pediatrics - General Pediatrics)

Clinical Associate Professor: Jason Hom (Medicine), Margaret Windy McNerney (VA Palo Alto Health Care Services), Rita Popat (Epidemiology and Population Health),  Clea Sarnquist (Pediatics - Infectious Diseases)

Clinical Assistant Professors: Baraka Floyd (Pediatrics), Andrea Kussman (Orthopaedic Surgery), John Openshaw (Medicine/Infectious Diseases)

Other Teaching Faculty and Staff: Tamar Brand-Perez, Janine Bruce (Pediatrics),Tiffany Chao (Surgery - General Surgery), David Crane (Public Policy), Sophia Colamarino (Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences - Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Development), Anne Friedlander, Catherine Ley (Medicine/Infectious Diseases), Mark Mabry, Joe Nation (Public Policy), Katherine Preston, Annette Salmeen, Piya Sorcar (Center for Health Policy and the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research), Jennifer Wolf (Education)

Course Associates: Samuel Fuentes, Bryanna Godfrey, Brice Jansen, Celeste Jupiter, Miya Lemberg, Habbaba Musa, Samantha Pickell, Lucy Richerich