Iowa Medical Student Summer Research Program in trans-NIDDK Research

Since its origins nearly 60 years ago, the Iowa Medical Student Summer Research Program has continuously improved to sustain its mission of enveloping medical students in mentored research opportunities that foster their development into accomplished physician-scientists that positively impact human health. The last six years have demonstrated unprecedented success in the level of student engagement and productivity. It is against this backdrop of accelerated growth that we propose to sharpen our focus and deepen our students’ engagement with an exceptional cadre of enthusiastic mentors performing scientifically rigorous trans-NIDDK research focused on digestive and liver diseases; endocrine and metabolic diseases; obesity and nutritional disorders; or kidney and urologic diseases. Those four areas of investigation are long-standing institutional strengths, and with seed funding from our College of Medicine, we have begun transitioning our historically successful campus-wide single-stream funding model into a re-envisioned program with the same high level administrative infrastructure now leveraged to enhance support for a cohort of M1 students that are committed to a summer of immersive research with our curated roster of 42 outstanding and experienced Participating Faculty on a project within the research mission of the NIDDK. This training grant proposal seeks funding for 16 students to participate in 12-week summer fellowships, and the funds provided through this training grant would be matched by the College of Medicine, amplifying the impact of the award. In synergy with extensive opportunities provided through relevant Centers and Institutes, scholars will receive Instruction in Methods for Enhancing Reproducibility and the Responsible Conduct of Research, as well as mentor-guided journal clubs and research seminars. In the years that follow, students enroll in our research skills course, year-long research opportunities, the Research Distinction Track, and dual degree programs. We closely monitor students alongside their mentors as they continue their pathway towards a research career with incremental advancement through the continuity of support that is available at our institution, including funding during residency, fellowship, and junior faculty appointments. We critically evaluate every aspect of our extensive programing each year through a combination of anonymous surveys and collaborative discussions to continuously enhance the exposure of our students to the entire research process, from writing a proposal to analyzing data, presenting at local and national meetings, and ultimately disseminating the results in peer reviewed journals. The long-term impact of this program is the development of a cohort of physicians that are equipped to extend their discoveries into real-life applications that improve human health through prevention and improved treatment for gastrointestinal, endocrine, metabolic, nutritional, renal and urologic disease.