The Mentored Medical Student Clinical Research Program provides a unique opportunity to learn the techniques of clinical research for students who intend to dedicate their efforts towards clinical investigation. A program through the Columbia University General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) has been devised to teach all elements of designing, implementing, and completing clinical studies. The major elements of the program include time spent at GCRC meetings, reviewing proposals, critiquing ongoing studies, and bringing studies to publication. In addition, partaking in rotations designed to teach clinical research to residents in internal medicine is included. The GCRC also offers the unique opportunity to interact with investigators at all levels. Exposure to faculty members with expertise in fields from Diabetes mellitus, to lipid metabolism, to immunology will be critical in the development of research skills. The specific research project that will be carried out involves the use of a novel immunosuppressant compound, hOKT3gamma1(a1a- a1a). Patients with newly diagnosed Diabetes mellitus Type I will be given the medication and followed with immunologic assays for one year to monitor immune status and diabetic status. Outside of the GCRC, time will be spent attending courses at the Columbia University School of Public Health, attending seminars in the topics of good clinical research, statistics, endocrinology, immunology, and transplantation. A series of text and selected journal publications on Immunobiology and diabetes have been selected to develop a knowledge base. Finally, weekly sessions with a mentor who will guide and shape my experiences in clinical research will be beneficial.
