Medical Research Scholars Program

First year MRSP Class

From left to right: George Lister, M.D., MRSP Associate Director, Shannon Silva, Nardos Cheru, Kyrillos Abdallah, Jhah Cook, Chris Dunlock, Amos Espinosa receive their white coats.

The Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP) at Yale University bridges barriers between traditional predoctoral and medical training by providing Yale Ph.D. students with both medically oriented coursework and a mentored clinical experience. The coursework provides a grounding in biomedicine, and the clinical experience enables students 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 to Ph.D. students and enhances the rigorous training in basic science already provided within the BBS Program. Upon completion of their training, MRSP graduates will be capable of working much more closely with physicians and physician-scientists and to independently perform clinically relevant basic research. Funding for the creation of the MRSP was provided by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and is now supported by the Molecular Medicine Training Grant (T32GM100884) funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Program Eligibility

Second year MRSP Class

From left to right: George Lister, M.D., MRSP Associate Director, April Pruitt, Victoria Rai, Savannah Kandigian, Thomas Zapadka, Raimundo Rodriguez, Rebecca Colon Rios receive their white coats.

The MRSP is open only to students who have already been accepted into the BBS Program, and an application is required. Eligible students will be invited to apply to the MRSP program and will be provided with the application details via email. Approximately 5 - 7 first year students are enrolled each year and remain in the program for three years. They still remain in their BBS Tracks or Departments but participate in the additional MRSP curriculum.

The Curriculum

MRSP Certificates

Garrett Allen, Edel Aron, Carrie Ann Davis, and Andrew Takeda receive certificates upon completing the MRSP curriculum.

The MRSP curriculum consists of four classroom 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 (see table below). Some of these classes will be open to all BBS students, at the discretion of the course directors. The centerpiece of the MRSP is a two-year Mentored Clinical Experience that takes place during years two and three of the program and provides students with patient contact. Exposure to patients and to the practice of medicine will enable graduate students 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

Comprehensive descriptions of the above courses are available in Word by clicking here.

Term	Course	Directors
Year 1
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
Term	Course	Directors
	Pathobiology-choice of #1 or #2 below:
Fall	1) Molecular Mechanisms of Human Disease (PATH 690)	D. Braddock, C. Fernandez-Hernando
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)	E. Herzog, L. Konnikova, R. Pierce
Year 3
Term	Course	Directors
Fall & Spring	Mentored Clinical Experience (C&MP 610)	E. Herzog, M. Caplan

Program Leadership

Third year MRSP Class

From Left to Right:

Michael Nitabach, Ph.D., J.D., 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)

The MRSP co-Directors are Michael Caplan, M.D., Ph.D., George Lister, M.D., and Michael Nitabach, Ph.D., J.D. (stepping down in spring 2022). The Associate Director is Erica Herzog, M.D., 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

Fourth Year MRSP Class

Left to Right:

Omar Gonzalez, Samuel Dorry, Grant Allington, Christopher Ng, Carrie Ann Davison, Diana Du, Edel Aron, Andrew Takeda

The application deadline will be in mid-May. The MRSP application, along with the student’s Application for Admission to the Yale Graduate School, which was submitted for entry into the BBS Program, are reviewed by members of the MRSP core leadership team. Selection is based largely on the applicant’s responses on the MRSP application as well as on the applicant’s potential for successfully handling the demands of the MRSP curriculum on top of their regular BBS Track coursework and lab rotations. If necessary, students may be interviewed.

MRSP Application

Application deadline

Fifth Year MRSP Class

From Left to Right:
Erica Herzog, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Director, Jessica Shaklee, Alexander Koo, Ian Gonzalez,
Oscar Chavez Ibanez, Caroline Focht, Noa Golan, Erin DeNardo

The next application deadline will be in May of 2022, and eligible students will be invited to apply via email in April. Please direct questions related to the application process to Bonnie Ellis.

For questions related to the program and the curriculum, please contact John Alvaro.

My inspiration and enthusiasm for science derive from a long-standing curiosity of the brain’s influence in setting crucial biological rhythms and orchestrating the sophisticated cognitive functions that characterize the human species. My interest in biomedical research, however, was primarily inspired by my desires to pursue a career that aims to enhance people’s quality of life. Yale’s Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP) is an extraordinary and unique educational opportunity that challenges us to participate in the exceptional endeavor to bridge the gap between scientists and clinicians. The mentored clinical experience enables me to interact with clinicians and patients, and through the extensive exposure to medically focused coursework and clinical environments, I will gain the knowledge and experience to pursue translational questions with a unique and creative perspective. Courses such as the Molecular Mechanisms of Human Disease and Medical Physiology Case Conference are examples of experiences not offered by other graduate programs, where the perspective and focus is on a holistic understanding of human disease, rather than a specialized emphasis on its components. Although rigorous and demanding, I am eager and motivated to apply the combination of medically relevant coursework and mentored clinical experiences so that I can effectively work with clinicians in the future to achieve my career goals.

Aneysis Gonzalez, Neuroscience

Photo Courtesy of Folasade Kammen