Physiology as a discipline is uniquely positioned to engage undergraduate students in interdisciplinary research in response to the 2006-2011 National Science Foundation Strategic Plan call for innovative transformational research, which emphasizes multidisciplinary projects. To prepare undergraduates for careers that cross disciplinary…

Nursing education and theory lean toward behavioral sciences, but practice focuses on biomedical problems. Bioscience should be reintroduced to nursing theory through reflective practice. This may also rectify the symbol-object dichotomy in natural sciences, which inhabits the relationship of theory and practice. (SK)

Academia and industry both have an interest in the economic aspects of drug development, including the rising cost of new drug discovery, the decrease in the effective patent life of new drugs as the drug improvement process lengthens, and the impact of drug-related litigation. (MLW)

Some of the uses of mathematics in biomedicine are listed and the problems involved in interdisciplinary biomathematical research are discussed. (MP)

The advantages and justifications for using small animals in human-oriented research are reviewed. Some of the pitfalls of extrapolating animal-derived data to humans are discussed. Several specific problems with animal experimentation are highlighted. (CW)