Biomedical Graduate Education
Special Master's Program in Physiology & Biophysics
Special Master's Program in Physiology & Biophysics

Faculty

SMP faculty: Adam Meyers, Jennifer Whitney, Sue Mulroney, Amy Richards and Tom Sherman

Our faculty are accomplished educators of medical and pre-medical students, and experts in the medical school admissions processes that SMP students are navigating. In addition to teaching, faculty provide admissions guidance as well as compelling recommendation letters for med school applications.

Leadership & Administration

Jennifer Whitney, Ph.D.

Director of the Special Master’s Program

Contact Jennifer Whitney

Amy Richards

Assistant Director of the Special Master’s Program

Contact Amy Richards

Team Leaders

Each Special Master’s Program student is assigned to one of our five Team Leaders. The Team Leader will be the student’s source of advice on the medical school application process and will write the student’s letter of recommendation.

Jennifer (Rogers) Whitney, Ph.D.

Jennifer Whitney

Associate Professor, SMP Director
Dr. Whitney is the director of the SMP and serves as a Team Leader. Dr. Whitney was the director of the Regular Physiology M.S. program for 11 years prior to her leadership in the SMP. She has taught and worked with the Physios since 2008. She received her Ph.D. in Physiology from Georgetown University and is an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology. Her teaching focuses on physiology, specifically renal physiology. She also teaches cadaveric and non-cadaveric gross anatomy. Dr. Whitney also enjoys teaching pathophysiology, to many kinds of students all over Georgetown’s campus. Dr. Whitney also is director of the summer Medical Physiology course for the Georgetown Summer Medical Institute. Her research interests are on growth hormone-mediated sex differences in diabetic renal disease.

Office Location: Medical and Dental Building, Room NE 411

Sarah Knight Marvar, Ph.D.

Sarah Knight Marvar

Assistant Professor
Dr. Knight Marvar is an SMP Team Leader and provides daily oversight of the Georgetown Downtown SMP campus. She is the course director for the Principles of Physiology and Introduction to Neurophysiology graduate courses. Dr. Knight Marvar also teaches non-cadaveric lectures in the Principles of Gross Anatomy and Biology of Health and Disease courses. Her research interests include pedagogical advances in science education and oxidative stress in hypertensive renal injury.

Office Location: Medical and Dental Building, Room NE 412

Susan Mulroney, Ph.D.

Susan Mulroney

Professor, Associate Dean for Preclinical Sciences and Interdisciplinary Medical Programs
Dr. Mulroney is director of the medical Gastrointestinal Biology course, and was director of the SMP for 16 years. She received her Ph.D. from Georgetown University and is a tenured professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology. In addition to being a Team Leader for the SMP, she also serves as an associate dean at the Medical Center, and as president of the University Faculty Senate. Her research revolved around the impact of gonadal sex on the development of diabetic renal and cardiovascular diseases, and the effects of acupuncture on the hypothalamic-pituitary axis in chronic stress. She is co-author (with Dr. Adam Myers) of Netter’s Essential Physiology textbook, Netter’s Physiology Flash Cards, and Netter’s Physiology Coloring Book. She has received multiple Golden Apple awards for her teaching from the medical and SMP classes, and was inducted into the Magis Society of Master Teachers in 2013 and the medical school’s Golden Orchard in 2014. The American Physiological Society named her the Arthur C. Guyton Educator of the Year in 2015.

Office Location: Medical and Dental Building, Room NE 409.

Thomas Sherman, Ph.D.

Thomas Sherman

Professor
Dr. Sherman is a Team Leader and teaches in four SMP courses: Medical Molecular Biology & Metabolism, Principles of Physiology, Human Nutrition & Health, and Medical Endocrinology & Reproductive Biology. He has been nominated for the Golden Apple teaching award by both medical and SMP students, receiving several from the SMP class. Dr. Sherman received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and is a professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology. Trained in molecular neuroendocrinology, for the past 20+ years, his interests, writings and teaching have focused on nutrition, biochemistry and metabolism, chronic disease and the regulation of body weight. He is a strong advocate for increased medical nutrition education. He is director of the new medical school course, Nutrition & Patient Health.

Office location: Medical and Dental Building, Room NE 407.

Lewis “Josh” Watson, Ph.D.

Lewis "Josh" Watson

Associate Professor
Dr. Watson is a Team Leader within the SMP and is also director of the Regular M.S. in Physiology program. Dr. Watson received his Ph.D. from the University of Louisville and has worked in Medical Education since 2015. He joined the SMP in 2020. Dr. Watson enjoys teaching Cardiovascular Physiology for multiple programs, including Georgetown University School of Medicine. He also serves as course director for the Graduate Pharmacology course and others. Dr. Watson’s research interests include: cardiac metabolism in diabetes and heart failure; regulation of adrenergic signaling; and utilization of model organisms in cardiovascular research.

Office Location: Medical and Dental Building, Room NE 405

Faculty Letter Writers

These faculty members will be teaching you in one or more of your courses and will write your letter of recommendation. Your assigned letter writer will be posted on the SMP Google Group page. A meeting with your letter writer will be scheduled after you start classes.