Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) has a strong commitment to train medical students to become academic leaders in medicine. WUSM is an internationally recognized clinical and research institution with talented medical students and world-renowned faculty. The broad scope of the research activities at WUSM provide stimulating and challenging research opportunities for all interested medical students. During the past 20 years, the WUSM medical student participation in Summer Research Program (SRP) has grown from the original 26 NHLBI T35 funded slots to currently 99 in total. This represents 90% participation of all WUSM medical students (MD students; non-MSTP students). The additional WUSM medical students are funded by additional training grants and Dean's Fellowships. The success of the NHLBI T35 funding at the inception of the SRP has attracted additional funding which has allowed the SRP to grow to its almost maximum extent. Therefore, currently the NHLBI T35 funds fewer than 30% of the SRP WUSM medical students. We believe that the success of the SRP warrants our request for an increase in NHLBI T35 support from 30 to 32 WUSM medical students each summer. The NHLBI T35 is 2.5 months in duration, between the end of the first year classes and the beginning of the second year classes. This time allows medical students sufficient time to collect enough data to analyze. For the past 15 years, Dr. Koong-Nah Chung has been the PI of this NHLBI T35 and the Director of the SRP. As a PhD scientist trained at WUSM, UC Berkeley and NIH, and as the Associate Dean for Medical Student Research and Director of the Office of Medical Student Research, Dr. Chung has been and continues to be in an ideal position to administer this NHLBI T35. Dr. Chung has been instrumental in bringing together the faculty and WUSM medical students for rewarding summer research experiences. Dr. Chung has also been instrumental in increasing the number of medical students who participate in the SRP and in the Advanced Research Programs at WUSM.
The goals of the proposed NHLBI T35 training grant (NHLBI T35) are to (1) develop the research interests of rising second year medical students (W2 medical students) in the summer research program, (2) provide personal interactions between W2 medical students and faculty mentors, and (3) encourage medical students to pursue Advanced Research. Continued support for this NHLBI T35 training grant is extremely important, because the SRP addresses national needs for: (1) Training academic physicians for research on the fundamental biological basis of human diseases and research in clinical sciences, and (2) Providing background and experience for practicing physicians to evaluate emerging medical technology.
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