# Summer Vision Sciences Training Program

> **NIH NIH T35** · UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE · 2021 · $40,549

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 This application is a resubmission for a T35 summer medical student training program in
vision research with two Specific Aims: 1) To provide hands-on training in basic and clinical
vision research to medical students in a structured mentored environment and 2) To provide an
interactive, educational experience that introduces medical students the fundamental skills
necessary for basic, translational, and clinical research in vision biology. The co-directors of this
program request support for 6 second-year medical students each summer in vision related
research laboratories that focus on topics such as visual circuitry, retinal degeneration, corneal
epithelial homeostasis, uveitis, and development of the visual system. Trainees will be selected
from the first year class at University of Louisville School of Medicine. Students will review
research projects submitted by 19 faculty funded by the NEI or vision related foundations. The
directors will make a special effort to recruit students from ethnic minorities and disadvantaged
backgrounds. Students will review the available projects and enter their 1st-3rd choices, allowing
matching of trainees with mentors. Final decisions will be made based on interviews between
mentors and Trainees. During the 10-week summer training, students work with mentors on
their research project in clinical or laboratory settings, complete training in the Responsible
Conduct of Research including topics such as fabrication and falsification of data, plagiarism,
managing scientific data, publication practices and responsible authorship, mentorship,
stewardship, and conflict of interest. Trainees will complete human subject, IRB training, and
animal care and handling as required by their specific research projects. All Trainees will attend
a 2-hour weekly “Vision Sciences Research Training Seminar” designed to introduce
clinical/translational research in Ophthalmology led by mentors in this T35 program. The
seminar series will culminate with each Trainee presenting his/her research project to peers and
mentors. Trainees present the results of their research as posters with peers at a School of
Medicine-wide, week-long celebration of research that includes nationally recognized physician-
scientists as keynote speakers. Trainees will be encouraged to continue research as part of the
Distinction in Research track that is an enrichment program focusing on providing meaningful
and productive research experiences throughout second through fourth years of medical school,
with ongoing presentations by students with mentors and 4+ weeks of research time in the
fourth year toward the goal of developing clinician-researchers. Trainees will be tracked to
assess the impact of this T35 program on careers as physician-scientists.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10141237
- **Project number:** 5T35EY026509-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE
- **Principal Investigator:** BRIAN P. CERESA
- **Activity code:** T35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $40,549
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10141237

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10141237, Summer Vision Sciences Training Program (5T35EY026509-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10141237. Licensed CC0.

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