MEDICAL STUDENT RESEARCH

Office of Medical Student Research

Summer research opportunities

The summer following year 1 is ten weeks long, allowing time for research or other activities. This period provides an opportunity to test a new area of interest or to pursue a longstanding one. Opportunities for research are numerous and are described at the icon, "Research opportunities".

Several opportunities for stipends for summer research are available and are discussed in detail below. They include the Crile Summer Research Fellowships, two T35 training grants from the NIH for Research in Heart, Lung, Blood and Sleep Disorders, and a T32 training grant in Pulmonary Host Defense, Inflammation and Innate Immunity.

The application for all three programs is identical and found at the student’s ePorfolio MyResearch site, Summer Research Application.

Applications to all three programs are due March 28, 2008.

Crile Fellowships

Crile Summer Research Fellowships are available through the Crile Research Endowment and the Dean’s Office to first year students in the University Program. This Fellowship provides stipends of $2500 to first-year medical students who wish to pursue a mentored research project for 8 weeks locally, nationally or internationally. The research project can be in any area of interest to the student. The opportunities and criteria for a research project are described at the “Research opportunities” icon. The student must identify an advisor and a project and submit an application. The advisor must be a faculty member at CWRU or at a university elsewhere. Following completion of the research project, each awardee submits an abstract (due October 22, 2008) and presents his/her work at Lepow Medical Student Research Day the following winter.

The application includes a short proposal of 700 words or less, written with the help of the advisor. The student’s role in the project must be clear. The proposal should include three sections:

1. A short rationale for the project
2. The question or hypothesis to be pursued
3. The approach to be taken in answering this question

For research projects involving human subjects or material that require any type of Internal Review Board (IRB) approval, this approval must be in place prior to June 1. Even straightforward IRB applications are requiring 6-7 weeks for approval, and IRB applications should be submitted at the time the proposal is submitted. Please speak with your advisor about IRB submission and/or training.

Research Program in Heart, Lung, Blood and Sleep Disorders and in Pulmonary Host Defense, Inflammation and Innate Immunity

These NIH-funded research training programs provides opportunities in cardiovascular, pulmonary, hematological, and sleep research with outstanding investigators who lead nationally recognized research programs in heart, lung, blood or sleep disorders. The research experiences range from fundamental molecular, cellular, and organ pathobiology to translational studies, clinical research, and population-based research. Students are selected based on applications that are competitively reviewed for the quality of their research proposal and the potential for a positive research experience. The students will become an integral part of the faculty advisor’s research program, interact with the other members of the laboratory and research community, and attend laboratory meetings, journal clubs, and relevant seminars.

These grants provide a stipend (currently $3462) to medical students who wish to pursue a full-time mentored research project for a minimum of 8 weeks. The students must be in good standing, having completed year 1, and have no clinical or course requirements outside of those directly related to the research project. One T35 grant provides stipends for 30 students, as well as partial support to attend and present the student’s work at a national meeting. The other T35 grant provides 10 positions for students who are members of underrepresented minorities. The T32 grant provides 6 positions for students interested in lung disease.

Faculty who are presently advisors in this research training program are listed here. The advisor must hold a faculty position at CWRU or the Cleveland Clinic. Faculty whose research interests are within the wide mission of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and who have demonstrated expertise and training experience but are not yet included as formal advisors on this grant can serve as advisors and be added to the grant.

Following completion of the research project, each awardee submits an abstract (due October 22, 2008) and presents his/her work at Lepow Medical Student Research Day the following winter.

1. A short rationale for the project
2. The question or hypothesis to be pursued
3. The approach to be taken in answering this question

For research projects involving human subjects or material that require any type of Internal Review Board (IRB) approval, this approval must be in place prior to June 1. Advisors usually have IRB protocols in place, and the student is then added following appropriate CREC training at the Office of Research Compliance. In some cases, the advisor and student will need to submit a new IRB protocol. Please speak with your advisor about IRB submission and/or training. Even straightforward IRB applications are requiring 6-7 weeks for approval, and IRB applications should be submitted at the time the proposal is submitted. Approval must be in place before starting the 4-month block.

Research in Aging

The application is identical to that for a Crile Fellowship and includes a short proposal of 700 words or less, written with the help of the advisor. The student’s role in the project must be clear. The proposal should include three sections: This program provides research opportunities in the biology of aging and in geriatrics. The four areas of research include:

1. basic biology of aging
2. cognitive diseases
3. organ systems and rehabilitation in geriatric patients
4. geriatrics, health services research, and ethical issues in aging.

Other sources of funding

Once a student selects a faculty member and a project, other opportunities for funding include federal or private foundations interested in a particular field or disease. A list of granting agencies with programs that support short-term medical student research and summer fellowships is available at here. These individual fellowships are peer-reviewed and prestigious. CWRU medical students have been very successful in obtaining these fellowships. Please contact your society Dean if you would plan to apply. Opportunities for summer research working with an investigator at the National Institutes of Health are available through the Summer Student Fellowship Program. Deadlines for applications can be as early as November for a July start, so please check the link for opportunities soon.