# Medical Scientist Training Program

> **NIH NIH T32** · ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2024 · $1,917,949

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The mission of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) is to train
physician-scientists who will become leaders in biomedical research to understand, detect, treat, and prevent
human disease. To accomplish this mission, we have three goals, 1) to recruit a diverse group of students with
outstanding potential to become research-active physician-scientists, 2) to provide training in an inclusive,
safe, and stimulating learning environment where students can acquire the foundational knowledge and the
technical, operational, and professional skills necessary to pursue a career as a research-active physician-
scientist and a leader in academic medicine and/or biomedical research, and 3) to support/facilitate their
professional development to transition to the next stage in the training continuum. Through a holistic
admissions process, we seek to identify individuals with the intelligence, curiosity, creativity, resilience,
perseverence, and enthusiam for science that is essential for a successful research career. We guide the
students through a program tailored to meet their individual needs and interests. The program provides
rigorous, integrated medical and research training through a flexible, continously evolving curriculum that
includes 1) specialized MSTP courses, and 2) integration of graduate and medical school curriculum in the first
2 years and throughout the program. The training program has 3 phases. In the first 2 years students take a
combination of medical, graduate, and MSTP-specific courses to gain the didactic foundation for their reseach
and clinical training. Research rotations and guidance from program leadership assist them in thesis lab
selection. In the program’s 2nd phase, students perform independent, original research under their mentor’s
guidance. They publish their discoveries in high quality, peer-reviewed papers, and prepare and defend a PhD
thesis. Participation in a PhD phase MSTP-run, outpatient clinic builds clinical skills. In the final phase, they
complete their clinical training. A multifaceted approach trains students to perform rigorous and reproducible
research in a responsible, ethical manner. Currently, the program has 113 trainees, 41% woman, 28% from
groups underrepresented in medicine (twice percentage in the applicant pool), and 11% with disabilities. We
will expand to ~120-130 trainees by increasing the entering class size to 16. Since its inception in 1964, as one
of the first three NIH-funded MSTPs, 484 trainees have graduated. 413 have completed postgraduate training
and published over 19,000 papers, an average of ~47 papers/graduate. 74% have jobs at academic medical
centers, research institutes, NIH or pharmaceutical companies. By various measures, the graduates have
achieved outstanding success and advanced biomedical research and academic medicine. We propose to
further integrate graduate and medical training, and increase opportunities for...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10847530
- **Project number:** 5T32GM149364-02
- **Recipient organization:** ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Myles H. Akabas
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,917,949
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-07-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10847530

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10847530, Medical Scientist Training Program (5T32GM149364-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10847530. Licensed CC0.

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