# Medical Student Alcohol Research Internship (MSARI)

> **NIH NIH T35** · LSU HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER · 2024 · $41,548

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
This proposal for continuation of a short-term summer research training program for pre-matriculating and
matriculated medical students at LSUHSC-New Orleans, Medical Student Alcohol Research Internships
(MSARI) builds on the success of the previous funding cycle. We propose to support seven students to work
with alcohol researchers within the Department of Physiology, Comprehensive Alcohol Research Center (CARC;
P60), and the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center of Excellence (ADACE). The experience is designed to introduce
medical students to research, cultivate their interest in research, and develop a better appreciation of the
significant impact of alcohol use as a behavioral and environmental factor in comorbidity risk. Students will
conduct intensive hands-on basic science or translational research for 8-10 weeks in the summer prior to
entering Medical School or between their L1 and L2 years. Students will be peer-mentored by PhD candidates
and post-doctoral fellows supported by the NIAAA-funded T32, providing an important mentoring opportunity for
our senior trainees. The goals of this program are to 1) provide medical students with research experiences; 2)
provide students with strong career and research mentoring; 3) increase the participation in research by women
and students traditionally underrepresented in biomedical research; 4) provide summer interns with the career
skills needed to succeed in academic medicine. In addition to their research experience, students will receive
didactic training on lab safety, responsible conduct of research, rigor and reproducibility, HIPPA, use of animals
in research, and instruction on writing abstracts and presenting research results (oral and poster presentations).
All participating students will prepare a poster presentation for LSUHSC School of Medicine (SoM) Research
Day. Outstanding trainees will have the opportunity to submit abstracts to regional or national scientific meetings
and will receive partial support from the SoM Dean’s office to attend and present their work. In addition, the
LSUHSC Chancellor will provide support for reagents and supplies directly to mentors participating in the
program. We are committed to recruiting individuals underrepresented in biomedical research. The impact of
the program will be assessed at the trainee and mentor level by surveys deployed at the end of the summer
experience. In addition, we will conduct formative and summative evaluations concerning the entire program and
will continuously evaluate the need for programmatic changes to improve and refine the program to better meet
student needs. Lastly, working with the Office of Student Affairs, we will continue to track progress of MSARI
participants to measure the long-term impact of their summer experience on career choices and research
participation. This program leverages the outstanding scientific infrastructure provided by the NIAAA-funded
Comprehensive Alcohol Research Center, will help create...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10846987
- **Project number:** 2T35AA021097-11
- **Recipient organization:** LSU HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Scott Edwards
- **Activity code:** T35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $41,548
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2012-04-01 → 2029-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10846987

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10846987, Medical Student Alcohol Research Internship (MSARI) (2T35AA021097-11). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10846987. Licensed CC0.

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