FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION:

Cindy Fox Aisen
(317)843-2276
aisenc@hhmi.org
Howard Hughes
Medical Institute

(301) 215-8500

Even as the academic year winds down, 112 medical, dental, and veterinary students are preparing to meet a new challenge: A year in a laboratory that will hone their scientific skills and prepare them for possible careers in research.

The students, drawn from 44 different institutions around the nation, will work in laboratories at either the National Institutes of Health or a research university they select as part of a $4 million initiative supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

“These programs give the students a chance to immerse themselves in research. For many, this will be a pivotal experience that helps them decide whether to pursue a career in research.”
Peter J. Bruns

“These students may one day help translate scientific discoveries into important new treatments and diagnostic tools,” says HHMI President Robert Tjian. “We hope this opportunity to work in a lab will encourage them to choose a career in research.”

Over the last 25 years, more than 2,000 medical, dental, or veterinary students have participated in either the HHMI-NIH Research Scholars Program or the HHMI Research Training Fellowships Program. “These programs give the students a chance to immerse themselves in research,” says Peter J. Bruns, HHMI’s vice president for grants and special programs. “For many, this will be a pivotal experience that helps them decide whether to pursue a career in research.”

The HHMI-NIH Research Scholars Program and the HHMI Research Training Fellowships Program reflect the Institute’s long-standing commitment to medical education and the specific goal of expanding the cadre of physicians and other professionals who combine clinical activities with laboratory research. Beyond these two initiatives, HHMI provides grants to jump-start the careers of physician-scientist alumni of the programs and supports medical training for basic science graduate students through the Med Into Grad Program.

Researchers who bridge the gap between clinical medicine and basic science are in a unique position to exploit the expanding knowledge of the human genome and other recent advances to make discoveries that will improve human health. The range of possible research areas is immense. Emerging areas include technologies for biomedical imaging; identification and use of markers of disease progression, and discovery of new molecular targets for possible therapeutic agents. Yet the number of individuals who actually pursue careers that combine laboratory research and clinical care has remained flat, despite the unprecedented opportunity for translating basic science discoveries into clinical treatments.

“Students who apply to the scholars and fellows programs recognize the increasing importance of science—and research—for the practicing physician, dentist, or veterinarian,” says William Galey, director of HHMI’s graduate and medical education program.

The programs are open to medical, dental, and veterinary students enrolled in U.S. schools. This year, 359 students applied, most of whom had completed two years in their program. Galey says that working in a lab full time will give the students a chance to experience what biomedical research is like and decide whether they want to pursue a career as a physician-scientist. And many do: Nearly 45 percent of alumni are still doing research 15 years or more after participating in the HHMI scholars or fellows programs.

“The number of alumni who choose to pursue a Ph.D. after participating in the programs is increasing,” Galey says. “A lot of the students probably didn’t have any idea they were going to do research before this experience, and a year in the lab really does build their excitement, but even those who don’t choose to pursue research will be better prepared for 21^st century medicine after working in the lab.”

HHMI-NIH Research Scholars Program

The HHMI-NIH Research Scholars Program was established in 1985 to encourage medical students to pursue research by allowing them to take a year off from their medical studies. and the program has since been expanded to include dental and veterinary students. It has brought more than 900 students to work in NIH labs.

Students selected as research scholars often enter the program with only a general idea of what type of research they would like to do. During their first few weeks, they are encouraged to visit several of the more than 1,100 laboratories at NIH before choosing which project to pursue under the guidance of an NIH mentor. The students are sometimes called “cloister scholars” because they live in apartments or dorm-style rooms in a refurbished cloister on the NIH campus in Bethesda.

This year, 42 students from 24 medical schools, two dental schools, and one veterinary school were chosen as research scholars.

HHMI Research Training Fellowships Program
The HHMI Research Training Fellowships Program allows medical, dental, and veterinary students to pursue biomedical research at a laboratory anywhere in the United States except the NIH campus in Bethesda. Each student submits a research plan to work in a specific lab with a mentor they have identified. Since 1989, more than 1,100 students have participated.

This year, 70 students from 26 medical schools and one dental school were chosen as research training fellows. While most students elect to stay at their home institution to do their research, this year 10 fellows will work in labs at a different school. Their research topics encompass tuberculosis, breast cancer, and stem cells, among other topics.

For the first time, HHMI has joined in a partnership with the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation (www.ivyfoundation.org) to support four HHMI-Ivy research training fellows who are doing research on glioma, a deadly and incurable brain cancer. The Ivy Foundation is focused on developing better diagnostics and treatments for patients with gliomas. “We are partnering where we have overlapping interests: training the next generation of physician scientists,” Bruns says.

Rob Tufel, executive director of the Ivy Foundation, agrees. “This partnership will help train tomorrow’s clinicians and scientists to meet one of the greatest challenges facing researchers today: improving the survival and quality of life for patients with brain tumors.”

HHMI is one of the world's largest philanthropies, with laboratories across the United States and grants programs throughout the world. The Institute is a nonprofit medical research organization that employs hundreds of leading biomedical scientists working at the forefront of their fields. In addition, through its grants program and other activities, HHMI is helping to enhance science education at all levels and maintain the vigor of biomedical science worldwide. Its headquarters are located in Chevy Chase, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C.

2009-2010 HHMI-NIH Research Scholars
Name	School
Kalil G. Abdullah	Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University
Adedamola O. Adepoju	University of Massachusetts Medical School
Leopold Arko	University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Musaddiq J. Awan	University of Maryland School of Medicine
Bietel W. Belay	University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine
Judith A. Briant	Weill Cornell Medical College
Casey A. Cable	Florida State University College of Medicine
Elizabeth S. Clark	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Veterinary Medicine
Benjamin R. Cohen	The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Mausam Damani	David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Maxime Debrosse	Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Ananth S. Eleswarapu	University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Elissa M. Furutani	Dartmouth Medical School
Iulia Giuroiu	David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Uma Goyal	University of Arizona College of Medicine
Theresa Guo	Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University
Caitlin Hicks	Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University
Mengjun Hu	Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University
Emily F. Kauvar	University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine
Daniel King	Wayne State University School of Medicine
Elliott D. Kozin	University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Courtney W. Mangus	Wayne State University School of Medicine
Raymond V. Mirasol	University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Yasunori Nagahama	State University of New York Upstate Medical University
Lisa M. Niswander	University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Aleksey A. Novikov	The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Chirayu G. Patel	The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
Manu S. Raam	Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University
Hema L. Ramkumar	Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
Bobby Y. Reddy	University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School
Julia K. Rotow	David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Urvi Ruparelia	Tufts University School of Dental Medicine
Vishal Saxena	The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Matan I. Setton	Duke University School of Medicine
Jacob E. Shabason	University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Rajiv T. Sivendran	Duke University School of Medicine
Jane C. Stieber	University of Michigan School of Dentistry
Randa Tao	Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Yaqing Wen	Duke University School of Medicine
David S. Xu	Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
Geoffrey B. Yang	Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Anne Zhuang	Duke University School of Medicine

2009-2010 Research Training Fellows
Name	School	Fellowship Institution
Jonathan S. Adelstein	New York University School of Medicine	New York University School of Medicine
Jonathan Beus	Emory University School of Medicine	Emory University School of Medicine
Ian A. Buchanan	Harvard Medical School	Harvard Medical School
Joaquin Q. Camara-Quintana	Stanford University School of Medicine	Stanford University School of Medicine
Julia C. Carnevale	Harvard Medical School	Harvard Medical School
Rebekah J. Cawley	The Ohio State University College of Medicine	The Ohio State University College of Medicine
Jaidip Chakravartti	New York University School of Medicine	New York University School of Medicine
Christine Cho	University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine	University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
William L. Clifton	Baylor College of Medicine	Baylor College of Medicine
Gregory Cvetanovich	Harvard Medical School	Harvard Medical School
Jonathan D. Dewey*	Duke University School of Medicine	Duke University School of Medicine
Sonia Dutta	New York University School of Medicine	Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Aaron C. Eifler	Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University	Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
John W. Evankovich	University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine	University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Navid Ezra	David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA	David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Alexander C. Fanaroff	Duke University School of Medicine	Duke University School of Medicine
Christopher M. Fung	University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine	University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Rodney A. Gabriel	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Ari Geliebter	Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University	Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Sara Gonias	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
John R. Gonzales	Baylor College of Medicine	Baylor College of Medicine
Jacqueline J. Greene	University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine	University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine
Stacy L. Greeter	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Yoon K. Han	David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA	David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Jamie Harrington	Yale School of Medicine	Yale School of Medicine
Justin D. Hilliard	University of Virginia School of Medicine	Duke University School of Medicine
Mariko L. Howe	Stanford University School of Medicine	Stanford University School of Medicine
Cedric L. Hunter	Duke University School of Medicine	Duke University School of Medicine
Taha A. Jan	Stanford University School of Medicine	Stanford University School of Medicine
Xiaoming S. Jia	Harvard Medical School	Harvard Medical School
Lora Kahn	University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine	Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Ari Kane*	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Jesse J. Keller	University of Washington School of Medicine	University of Washington School of Medicine
Brian P. Kelley	Baylor College of Medicine	Baylor College of Medicine
Howard Kim	Duke University School of Medicine	Duke University School of Medicine
Amar U. Kishan	Harvard Medical School	Harvard Medical School
Matthew J. Kole	Baylor College of Medicine	Baylor College of Medicine
Rahi Kumar	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Debbie Kuo	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Andrew S. Lee	Stanford University School of Medicine	Stanford University School of Medicine
Victoria Lyo	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Harrison Mackler	Harvard School of Dental Medicine	Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Jolene R. Mariotti	The Ohio State University College of Medicine	Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nicholas M. Maurice	University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine	University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Agnieszka Milczarek	Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine	Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine
Ezra Mirvish	University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine	University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Nisha Mukherjee	Duke University School of Medicine	Harvard Medical School
Kazim Narsinh	University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine	Stanford University School of Medicine
Michael A. Paolini	Baylor College of Medicine	Baylor College of Medicine
Suha J. Patel	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Daniel A. Perez	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine	University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
Patrick G. Pilie	Duke University School of Medicine	Duke University School of Medicine
Shanti M. Pinto	University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine	University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Stacey L. Poloskey	Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University	Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Camille E. Powe	Harvard Medical School	Harvard Medical School
Pearl N.K. Quartey	Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University	University of Chicago
Karen Revere	University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine	University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
June-Wha Rhee	Harvard Medical School	Harvard Medical School
Zain H. Rizvi	Wayne State University School of Medicine	University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Pavel Rodriguez	Duke University School of Medicine	Duke University School of Medicine
Hersh Sagreiya	Stanford University School of Medicine	Stanford University School of Medicine
Stephen M. Schleicher*	Vanderbilt University School of Medicine	Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Neda I. Sedora-Roman	University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine	The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Bryan J. Simmons	Duke University School of Medicine	Duke University School of Medicine
Chad Tang	Stanford University School of Medicine	Stanford University School of Medicine
Ameet I. Thaker	Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine	Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine
Diane Tseng	Stanford University School of Medicine	Stanford University School of Medicine
Andrew M. Vahabzadeh-Hagh	Harvard Medical School	Harvard Medical School
Chi-fu J. Yang	Harvard Medical School	Harvard Medical School
Qingyang Yuan*	The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine	The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
* HHMI-Ivy Research Training Fellows

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