# Alpert Medical School Summer Research Program

> **NIH NIH T35** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $74,727

## Abstract

This is the 2​nd renewal application of the Alpert Medical School Summer Research Program
(AMSSRP). The ​overall goal of the AMSSRP is to provide ​12 ​medical students with the
opportunity to have a mentored research experience annually under the guidance of Brown
University faculty. Designated faculty trainers are the principal investigators for research
programs focused on the molecular basis and pathology of cardiovascular, pulmonary, and
blood diseases and/or disease outcomes and prevention. The current program offers 8 medical
students, who have just completed their 1​ year of medical school, a 9 week summer research
st
experience that includes a collaborative, multidisciplinary, mentored research project, didactic
training, and career development activities to enhance their understanding, and give them the
hands-on experience of a career as a physician-scientist. The AMSSRP is geared to expose
students to the critical role played by physician-scientists in translational research and to inspire
these students to embark on this career path of exploration and discovery.
NIH has consistently made translational and ‘bench-to-bedside’ research a priority. However,
the increase in NIH support of biomedical basic research has not correlated with an increase in
the discovery of efficacious therapies or diagnostics to battle human diseases. This disparity
may be due in part to the decrease in the number of physicians who pursue research careers, a
decline that may result from a lack of mentorship, rising costs of medical school education, the
length of time of MD-PhD programs, and a perception that physician-scientists are not as highly
regarded as clinicians in the hospital setting. In addition, developing knowledge base and
research skill competencies for clinically trained physicians is time consuming and often learned
outside of medical school didactics. The AMSSRP serves to dispel this trend by partnering
medical students with successful and active mentors engaged in cutting edge research and
exposing them to the excitement of biomedical research discoveries related to cardiovascular,
pulmonary and blood health and diseases during their medical school years. By engaging
medical students early in their training, we hope to stimulate a lifelong drive of scientific inquiry
and a successful research career.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10386809
- **Project number:** 5T35HL094308-13
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Thomas Benedict Bartnikas
- **Activity code:** T35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $74,727
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2009-08-01 → 2025-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10386809

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10386809, Alpert Medical School Summer Research Program (5T35HL094308-13). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10386809. Licensed CC0.

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