Medical Research Scholars Program
The Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP) bridges barriers between traditional predoctoral and medical training by providing you with both medically oriented coursework and a mentored clinical experience. The coursework provides a grounding in biomedicine, and the clinical experience enables you to interact with patients to learn firsthand about disease symptoms, treatment options, and the limitations of current therapies. This combination of medical knowledge and face-to-face interaction with patients and their doctors provides a new perspective and enhances the rigorous training you will receive in the BBS Program.
Upon completing the MRSP curriculum, you will be able to work much more closely with physicians and physician-scientists and will be able to perform clinically relevant basic research.
A grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute initially helped to launch the MRSP, and a Molecular Medicine Training Grant (T32GM100884) funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences now supports the program.
Program Eligibility
The Curriculum
The MRSP curriculum (see table below) consists of four full semester courses that focus first on normal human physiology and organ-based cell biology, followed by human pathobiology and then an introduction to drug discovery, validation and clinical trials. You also take an intensive summer course in biostatistics. Some of these MRSP courses are open to all BBS students, at the discretion of the course directors.
The centerpiece of the MRSP is an additional two-year Mentored Clinical Experience course during years two and three of the program. This course integrates basic and clinical research while additionally granting you access to patients and patient settings. Exposure to patients and to the practice of medicine will enable you to work more confidently at the interface of research and medicine and facilitate future collaborations with clinical researchers. The Mentored Clinical Experience is open only to students formally enrolled as Medical Research Scholars.
MRSP Curriculum Descriptions
Year 1 |
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Term | Course | Directors |
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Fall | Physiological Systems (C&MP 550/MCDB 550/PHAR 550) | M. Saltzman, S. Campbell |
Spring | Systems Cell Biology (CBIO 604) | A. Vignery |
Summer | Intro to Biostatistics in Clinical Investigation (IMED 645) | E. Shapiro, V. Shabanova |
Year 2 |
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Term | Course | Directors |
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Pathobiology-choice of #1 or #2 below: |
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Fall | 1) Molecular Mechanisms of Human Disease (PATH 690) |
D. Braddock,
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Fall & Spring | 2) Medical Physiology Case Conference (C&MP 600) | E. Boulpaep |
Spring | Topics in Human Investigation (B&BS 680/IMED 680) | J. Craft, K. Anderson |
Fall & Spring | Mentored Clinical Experience (C&MP 610) | L. Konnikova, R. Pierce
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Year 3 |
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Term | Course | Directors |
Fall & Spring | Mentored Clinical Experience (C&MP 610) | L. Konnikova, R. Pierce |
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Program Leadership
The MRSP co-Directors are Michael Caplan, M.D., Ph.D., George Lister, M.D., and Megan King, Ph.D. The administrative liaison for the MRSP is Bonnie Ellis, Associate Director for the BBS Program. The MRSP also has a core leadership team that includes the above individuals and Liza Konnikova, Ric Pierce, Craig Roy, John Alvaro, Karen Anderson, David Stern, Joe Craft, and Fred Gorelick.
Student Selection Process
From Left to Right:
Michael Nitabach, Ph.D., J.D., former MRSP Program Director, Erick Salvador Rocha, Jeremy Gygi, Ana Berthel, Madeline Mayday, Jenna Andrews, Madison Rackear, Carissa Chan, Fred Gorelick, M.D., Ph.D., Member of MRSP Core Leadership (missing from picture is Madeleine Mankowski)
MRSP Application
Application deadline
The next application deadline will be in May of 2023, and we will invite incoming BBS students to apply after April 15. Please direct questions related to the application process to Bonnie Ellis.
For questions related to the program and the curriculum, please contact John Alvaro.