A.B in Health & Human Biology

4 Years On Campus Bachelors Program

Brown University

Program Overview

Brown University’s A.B. in Health & Human Biology is an interdisciplinary four-year program that combines a rigorous biological-sciences foundation with humanities and social-science study focused on human health and disease. It suits students interested in understanding health from biological, social, behavioral, and global perspectives, with options to explore areas such as global health, planetary health, mind, brain and behavior, and social determinants of health.

Curriculum Structure

Year 1: Students build the scientific foundation needed for advanced study through courses such as MATH 0090 – Single Variable Calculus, Part I, CHEM 0330 – Equilibrium, Rate, and Structure, and BIOL 0200 – The Foundation of Living Systems. They also complete an approved statistics or methods course, establishing preparation in mathematics, chemistry, biology, and quantitative methods.

Year 2: Students move into the Biology core and begin developing a deeper understanding of human biology through courses such as BIOL 0470 – Genetics, or combinations including BIOL 0480 – Evolutionary Biology and BIOL 0500 – Cell and Molecular Biology or BIOL 0510 – Introductory Microbiology. Coursework can also address structure, function, and development through options such as BIOL 0800 – Principles of Physiology or BIOL 1310 – Developmental Biology.

Year 3: Students broaden their understanding of health by completing Biology or Neuroscience courses alongside their selected interdisciplinary theme. Depending on their interests, they can explore areas such as BIOL 0380 – The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease, BIOL 1555 – Methods in Informatics and Data Science for Health, or NEUR 0010 – The Brain: An Introduction to Neuroscience, while building a cohesive theme from humanities and social-science courses.

Year 4: The final year brings together biological and interdisciplinary learning through the required Senior Capstone Activity. Students may complete an approved senior seminar or advanced course, independent research or study through BIOL 1950/BIOL 1960, or an appropriate scholarly internship combined with faculty-mentored independent study.

Focus Areas: Mind, Brain, Behavior; Planetary Health; Global Health; Social Determinants of Health.

Learning Outcomes: Biological-science foundation; genetics and human biology; health and disease analysis; interdisciplinary thinking; quantitative and research methods; independent research and scholarly inquiry.

Professional Alignment (Accreditation): Brown’s official program information does not state a separate professional accreditation specifically for the A.B. in Health & Human Biology; the concentration is an undergraduate A.B. offered through Brown’s Biology Undergraduate Education.

Reputation (Employability Rankings): Brown University reported that LinkedIn ranked Brown No. 14 in its Top Colleges 2025 list for long-term career success, based on factors including career outcomes, advancement, internships, and entrepreneurship. Brown also reports that 95% of 2023 graduates went on to employment or graduate/professional school within nine months of graduation.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

Brown’s A.B. in Health & Human Biology gives students practical experience by combining biological science with quantitative methods, health-focused humanities and social sciences, and a required senior capstone. Students can pursue faculty-mentored independent research, internships with scholarly components, and hands-on laboratory work, while Brown’s biology teaching infrastructure provides access to scientific instrumentation and technical support.

The program’s practical opportunities include:

Senior Capstone: Students complete a senior-year capstone through an approved advanced seminar, one semester of independent research or study through BIOL 1950/1960, or an appropriate internship combined with faculty-mentored independent study.
Off-Campus Experience: Students may undertake health-related volunteering, off-campus research in hospitals, research with the Rhode Island Department of Health, or another substantial health-related experience before developing the work through faculty-mentored independent study.
Research Training: Brown’s Summer Research opportunities allow Health & Human Biology students to participate in translational, clinical, behavioral, and public-health research; examples include clinical-trial work, patient interviews, data analysis, cell culture, RNA/cDNA extraction, qRT-PCR, staining, microtome sectioning, and imaging.
Multidisciplinary Teaching Laboratories: Students taking biology laboratory courses can work in Brown’s Multidisciplinary Teaching Laboratories (MDL), which provide scientific instrumentation, supplies, technical expertise, and flexible laboratory spaces for molecular biology, microbiology, genetics, physiology, and other biology courses.
Laboratory Techniques: Students can develop practical skills such as micropipetting, DNA analysis, electrophoresis, and cell-culture techniques through Brown’s laboratory training and workshops.
Research Projects: Brown offers Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) involving semester-long projects that simulate research-laboratory work; one example is Fermentation to Publication: Experimental Food Microbiology, which combines experimental microbiology with computational analysis and is designed around producing research suitable for manuscript submission.
Computational & Data Skills: Students can select BIOL 1555: Methods in Informatics and Data Science for Health, while courses such as CPSY 1291: Computational Cognitive Science and CPSY 1490: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Theory and Practice are among the approved theme-course examples.
Health & Biomedical Library Support: Brown’s Health and Biomedical Library Services provides focused research support for medicine, public health, and biomedical sciences, including access to clinical and health-science research guides and resources such as PubMed.
Research Institutes & Facilities: Students can connect their health-focused studies with Brown’s wider biology and medicine research environment, including facilities such as the Genomics Core Facility, Structural Biology Core Facility, Flow Cytometry and Sorting Facility, Leduc Bioimaging Facility, MRI Research Facility, and Rhode Island Genomics and Sequencing Center.

Progression & Future Opportunities

The A.B. in Health & Human Biology gives students a multidisciplinary foundation that combines biological sciences with humanities and social sciences, preparing them for health-related careers and advanced study. Brown reports that nearly half of HHB graduates pursue advanced degrees in health-related fields, while about 20% continue into master’s and Ph.D. programs in the life sciences.

Typical Job Roles: Clinical Research Coordinator, Research Assistant, Healthcare Program Coordinator, Health Policy Analyst.

Career Support & Employment Opportunities:

Career Exploration: Brown’s Lizzie & Jonathan Tisch Center for Career Exploration provides career guidance, resources, and connections to opportunities across industries, while BrownConnect helps students find internships, research opportunities, funding for internships, and alumni connections.
Research Experience: Students can pursue clinical research at local healthcare facilities, summer research programs, independent research, and other research experiences through Brown’s health-career advising network.
Employment Outcomes: Brown reports that 95% of 2023 graduates entered employment or graduate/professional school within nine months of graduation.
Health-Related Progression: Nearly 50% of HHB graduates pursue advanced degrees in health-related fields, and approximately 20% continue into master’s and Ph.D. programs in the life sciences.
Salary Figures: Brown’s official HHB and undergraduate outcomes pages do not publish a program-specific graduate salary figure, so a specific HHB salary is not stated.
Industry Connections: Brown Biology maintains partnerships with universities, laboratories, and industry leaders, while its biomedical research ecosystem includes Brown University Health and Care New England.
Clinical Research Network: Brown’s research network includes hospital-based faculty research, BioMed Core Facilities, and the Advance Clinical Translational Research partnership involving Brown and area universities and hospitals.
Long-Term Accreditation Value: Brown University is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), with the university’s most recent reaccreditation occurring in 2018.
Graduation Outcomes: Brown’s undergraduate alumni pursue medicine, research, business, teaching, and other professional fields; the university maintains employment and post-baccalaureate education data through its Office of Institutional Research.
Alumni Example: A Brown Health & Human Biology graduate, Adaeze Nwakobi ’14, progressed into clinical research and currently works as a project manager for a clinical-trials software company.
Health-System Partnership: Brown University and Brown University Health have expanded their longstanding affiliation to strengthen patient care, medical education, and biomedical research, creating an environment closely connected to health and clinical research.

Further Academic Progression: After completing the A.B., students can progress into medical school, public health, life-science master’s and Ph.D. programs, or other health-related graduate degrees. Brown specifically notes that HHB students intending to pursue graduate school can undertake additional STEM coursework and independent research during their senior year, while Brown alumni outcomes demonstrate progression into medicine, research, and other advanced professional pathways.