Quick Program Facts
Graduate student enrollment (Spring 2020)
- Child Life – 18
- Sport and Recreation Management – 39
- Clinical Exercise Physiology – 10
- Health and Human Physiology (MS with thesis) – 6
- Health and Human Physiology PhD - 12
Application deadline: February 1 for fall admission
The Department of Health and Human Physiology (HHP) at the University of Iowa (UI) was formed in 2010 from three departments/programs: Integrative Physiology, Health and Sports Studies and Leisure Studies. The mission of the HHP is to advance knowledge of health, human physiology, sport and recreation through teaching, practice, research and service to impact the health and well-being of people of the state of Iowa and beyond.
Students interested in MS thesis or PhD programs (e.g., human physiology or health promotion) have access to faculty with expertise in a wide variety of physiological systems, health maintenance and prevention of disease. Our research portfolio includes basic, applied and community research that is clinically oriented. Areas of research strength in the department include cardiovascular, muscular, respiratory and sensorimotor physiology, and exercise/physical activity and sedentary behavior. Within each of these areas, HHP faculty focus their research on underlying mechanisms, prevention and/or treatment of related diseases such as hypertension, preeclampsia, pulmonary disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, sarcopenia, cognitive impairment, prematurity, aging and neurological diseases such as stroke and multiple sclerosis.
Students in non-thesis tracks including sport and recreation management, child life and clinical exercise physiology, have access to outstanding coursework and extensive “real world” experiential, community and clinical internship learning opportunities within their field leading to numerous career prospects upon graduation.
Please follow the program links for more information:
MA in Sport & Recreation Management requires a minimum of 30 semester hours.
MS in HHP without Thesis – Clinical Exercise Physiology (CEP) requires a minimum of 32 semester hours.
MS in the Child Life subprogram requires a minimum of 36 semester hours with the following coursework.
MS in Health and Human Physiology (with thesis) requires 30 semester hours of graduate coursework which includes a maximum of 4 semester hours of Thesis MS.
PhD in Health and Human Physiology requires 72 semester hours of graduate coursework, which includes all research-related coursework.
Graduate students have vast opportunities to conduct cutting edge research in HHP and with faculty in other colleges across campus including the Colleges of Medicine, Public Health, Engineering and Liberal Arts and Sciences; and world class research Centers/Institutes such as the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center, Abboud Cardiovascular Research Center, Iowa Neuroscience Institute, Iowa Biomedical Imaging Institute and the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center.
Research opportunities are available in the following labs:
- Behavioral Medicine - Faculty: Lucas Carr, PhD, associate professor
- Physical Activity and Women’s Health - Faculty: Kara Whitaker, PhD, MPH, assistant professor
- Integrative Pathophysiology and Genetics Faculty: Melissa Bates, PhD, associate professor
- Motor Control Faculty: Warren Darling, PhD, professor
- Muscle Biology & Metabolism Faculty: Vitor Lira, PhD, associate professor
- Translational Vascular Physiology Faculty: Gary Pierce, PhD, professor
- Integrative Neurophysiology Faculty: Thorsten Rudroff, PhD, associate professor
- Microvascular Physiology Faculty: Anna Stanhewicz, PhD, assistant professor
- Muscle Molecular Physiology Faculty: Erin Talbert, PhD, assistant professor
- Physical Activity and Cancer Prevention Faculty: Jessica Gorzelitz, PhD, assistant professor.
Estimated cost of attendance based on 2019-2020 (cost includes tuition and fees*, books and living expenses**):
Iowa residents: $26,770.50
Non-residents: $45,717.50
Students with Assistantships
Students holding an assistantship (quarter-time or more) are classified as residents for fee purposes for the terms during which their appointments are held and any adjacent Summer Sessions in which they are enrolled. They are not assessed a technology fee.
Students holding a quarter-time or greater teaching or research assistantship (covered by the COGS bargaining unit) receive a 100% tuition scholarship each semester and a fee scholarship for 50% of mandatory student fees assessed. This does not include scholarships for Summer Session enrollment.
* This includes the following fees: technology, art and cultural events, student activity, student services, student union, building, recreation, professional enhancement and health.
** Living expenses reflect the estimated annual student costs of housing, transportation, food and other personal expenses based on federal financial aid guidelines (family expenses not included), according to the UI Office of Student Financial Aid.
Teaching and Research Assistantships
The department offers teaching assistantships (TA) and research assistantships (RA) to all qualified graduate students. TA appointments are dependent on student demand and RA appointments are dependent on faculty member research funding. Graduate students who hold a quarter-time graduate appointment or greater receive a tuition scholarship that covers 100% of tuition. Graduate students in HHP are typically awarded half-time appointments which require 20 hours of classroom and/or laboratory instruction per week.
The average annual stipend for teaching assistants is $20,064 for half-time. Masters students receive a maximum of two years of funding while PhD students receive a maximum of four years of funding. New incoming PhD and MS thesis graduate students are typically awarded a TA appointment. More advanced PhD students may also be awarded an RA appointment.
Fellowships
Graduate students are encouraged to pursue research fellowships that provide them the necessary time to complete their research objectives. https://clas.uiowa.edu/hhp/graduate/funding
Scholarships
The department has several graduate student scholarships. All scholarship applications are due by March 1.
More Information about Our Program
MA in sport and recreation management admission information: https://grad.admissions.uiowa.edu/academics/sport-and-recreation-management-ma
Health & Human Physiology (MS, PhD) information: https://grad.admissions.uiowa.edu/academics/health-human-physiology-ms-phd
Program Contact Information:
- MS in child life – Emily Mozena, MA
- MA in sport and recreation management- Dan Matheson, JD
- MS in clinical exercise physiology – Gary Pierce, PhD
- MS (with thesis) in health and human physiology – Kara Whitaker, PhD
- PhD in health and human physiology – Kara Whitaker, PhD