Short Term Training Grant

The intent of this longstanding Training Grant is to provide salary support to medical students in the summer following their first year to enable them to participate in an 11-week, full-time biomedical research program supervised by vetted faculty mentors of Columbia University. Our goal is to provide students - with and without prior research experience - an opportunity to interact with the research faculty of this institution and to participate in a basic or clinical biomedical research project. The program includes participation in such a project, supervised student research presentations, a manuscript-style written report, and a seminar series that includes topics in biomedical research concepts and techniques, as well as a module related to Responsible Conduct of Research. A dedicated web portal communicates program information and facilitates interactions among students and mentors. Students who are interested in applying for this NIH Summer Research Fellowship use a web-based system to select from a list of faculty members at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons who have applied to serve as mentors and who have active NIH-funded (or equivalent) grants in basic and/or clinical sciences. Students apply by submitting to the Research Advisory Committee (RAC) of the Program a five page NIH-style application. The applications are reviewed by members of the faculty and prioritized by the RAC. In response to suggestions by NHLBI program personnel, we have increased our emphasis on projects related to hematology and related stem cell biology. To monitor the program’s relevance and impact, participants, past and present, are regularly surveyed, using ad hoc tools and citation databases. The program’s record of accomplishment is long and strong.