Major Life Sciences Illustration
I have the capacity to captivate and educate at the same time with my work.
ART MEETS SCIENCE
You’ll blend your love of science with a deep joy in the careful creation of beautiful imagery. Your work will explain difficult scientific and medical concepts through your medium of choice. It will impact real people and make change in the world.
Why Life Sciences Illustration at CIA?
Each instructor in the Life Sciences Illustration major is accredited as a Board Certified Medical Illustrator. They are also all practicing medical illustrators and have established relationships with the region’s extraordinary medical, scientific, and cultural communities.
You’ll have the chance to register and take electives in the anatomy department at Case Western Reserve University. Our current students favorite is the gross anatomy class taught by CWRU’s School of Medicine anatomy faculty. The best part? You’ll have 24/7 access to the gross anatomy lab.
You’ll explore topics in biological, zoological, botanical, and health sciences. All while becoming proficient in illustration, animation and information design.
Hospital Partnership
Our program has a partnership with University Hospitals. You’ll have opportunities to observe surgeries in your junior year and learn how to distill those complex concepts into stunning visuals. The relationships you make during your observation can even help you with your BFA project and making sure you schedule the observations you need.
Student Experience
Sofia Cina ’24 currently works as a Medical Illustrator at the Cleveland FES Center. They are also working towards a MS in Applied Anatomy at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Melissa Harvey ’23 works at Metrohealth as a Medical Illustrator. She is one of the pioneers in illustrating vaginoplasty, a complex procedure to construct a vagina. Learn more
Caitlin Guttu ’23 is a Scientific Illustrator at Case Western Reserve University. She works closely with researchers and practitioners to create scientific illustrations for large scale grant proposals and research.
Kerstyn Gay ’22 graduated with her MFA in Biomedical Illustration from Rochester Institute of Technology in May 2024.
Weston DeWolff, MSMI ’16 is a Medical Illustrator at Osso VR, a healthcare training company.
Jeremy Miller ’13 is a Board-Certified Medical Illustrator. He currently works as a 3D Medical Animator Sr. at Arthrex, a global medical device company.
Meet Faculty
Beth Halasz
Associate ProfessorCertified Medical Illustrator (CMI) Beth received her BFA and MFA in Medical Illustration from the Cleveland Institute of Art, where she was its first graduate student. As a medical illustrator…
View profileThomas Nowacki
Associate Professor + Division ChairThomas is a Division Chair and Associate Professor in the Life Sciences Illustration Department at CIA as well as Adjunct Professor in Anatomy at Case Western Reserve University. He is…
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