# Veterinary Summer Scholars in Comparative Medicine

> **NIH NIH T35** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2024 · $58,390

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Veterinarian-scientists provide critical disciplinary and technical expertise for advancing biomedical
research. Due to their broad understanding of animal anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and disease,
they possess key knowledge for cross-species comparative medicine and for experimentally-induced
and naturally occurring animal models of human diseases. Veterinarian-scientists also provide
contributions to human welfare through critical roles in One Health initiatives, including in global food
security and in emerging and zoonotic diseases and ecosystem health. One key area of importance is
that approximately 75% of recenUy emerging infectious diseases affecting humans are diseases of
animal origin some of which are in wildlife reservoirs. However, the US National Research Council, an
NIH Physician-Scientist Workforce Working Group Report, and the NIH Office of Research Infrastructure
Programs have all emphasized that the veterinarian-scientist workforce is far underrepresented and
underutilized in biomedical research. Reasons for this include limited access by veterinary students to
biomedical research programs and appropriate training. The objective of our "Veterinary Summer
Scholars in Comparative Medicine" T35 training program is to provide direct biomedical research
experiences to first and second-year veterinary students in order to increase the numbers of
researchers in the veterinary-scientist pipeline. Our approach will consist of 1) providing opportunities to
conduct comparative biomedical research in an environment of collaboration and discovery by mentors
who are basic and clinician-scientists, and 2) providing research training in the form of lectures,
discussions and activities focused on responsible conduct and ethics in research, experimental design
and quality assurance, conflict management, research communication, and career pathways in the
biomedical sciences. New innovations described in this renewal application include additional science
communication sessions, increased opportunities for continued research experiences during veterinary
school, as well as more interprofessional interactions by our T35 trainees with other health professionals
in the university's Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI}, with trainees in our CVM T32
Comparative Medicine Training grant, and other similar health sciences programs to promote
team-science. The proposed T35 training program involves a critical mass of faculty mentors from our
health sciences schools (Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine) at the University of
Minnesota for providing multidisciplinary and state-of-the-art research experiences.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10846940
- **Project number:** 2T35OD011118-11A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** EDWARD E PATTERSON
- **Activity code:** T35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $58,390
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2011-07-15 → 2029-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10846940

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10846940, Veterinary Summer Scholars in Comparative Medicine (2T35OD011118-11A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10846940. Licensed CC0.

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