UK offers new master’s degree in medical sciences, with College of Agriculture, Food and Environment’s ag biotech program

Robert Houtz, Ellis Shelley, Joe Springer (Photo by Matt Barton, UK Agric. Communications)

The College of Agriculture, Food and Environment and the UK College of Medicine at the University of Kentucky have collaborated to create the first master’s degree in medical sciences, and Ellis Shelley will be its first student.

Shelley, an Albany native, is finishing up his bachelor’s degree at UK in agricultural biotechnology. His undergraduate research has focused on helping a local truffle farmer use biotechnology to take a lot of guesswork out of his production practices, says a UK news relase. His long-term goal is a medical career.

Medical professor Joe Springer, director of the program, said in the release, “This partnership across our two colleges is a unique approach that will greatly enhance the placement of our students in professional schools, graduate degree awarding programs and industry.”

Bob Houtz, chair of the UK Department of Horticulture and member of the coordinating committee for the agricultural biotechnology program, said “All our agricultural biotech students already do research; we’re trying to make the transition seamless, so that many of them can continue the same research in their master’s of medical sciences studies.”