# Medical Scientist Training Program

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON · 2024 · $542,949

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The mission of our multi-institutional MSTP, comprised of The University of Texas Health Science
Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
(MDACC), and in conjunction with The University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus
School of Medicine (UPR), is to pursue novel training of a diverse group of intellectually gifted
students for careers as physician-scientists focused on disease-oriented research and bridging
the knowledge gap between medicine and basic science. The MSTP has been continuously
funded since 1982 and has graduated 136 students. To expand diversity in our physician-scientist
trainees, we have partnered with the UPR, leveraging a NIH-funded MDACC/UPR U54
Partnership for Excellence in Cancer Research award to integrate into our MSTP those talented
UPR medical students who want to pursue research careers, and approximately 34% of our
program is underrepresented minorities (URM). Applications to our program from students from
across the country have doubled over the past 10 years, allowing us to matriculate a group of
highly qualified students (50 students currently in the program). To prepare physician-scientists
to pursue disease-oriented research, a novel educational sequence was established to integrate
the medical and graduate school. Although students begin to fulfill graduate school requirements
from the very beginning of the program, they complete the clinical specialty rotations before
pursuing dissertation research. Students can select from 9 graduate training programs in
biomedical sciences. Support for this educational sequence is provided by the fact that, in the
past 10 years, attrition from the program has been less than 4% and the time to completion is 7.8
years. Our students get extensive training in ethics of research and in rigor and reproducibility as
well as how to work in a safe research environment. The quality of students and the program are
exemplified by strong publication records and excellent residency matches. A major element to
enhance training is the required Topics in Molecular Medicine course, which provides vertical
integration and community for the students, exposure to the breadth and depth of research at the
institutions, and insights into career development and leadership. Based on graduates over the
past 15 years, the majority of our graduates who are out of training stayed in research-related
careers (71%; academia, FDA, Biotech; n = 30). MSTP support is requested for a total of 6
matriculating students per year to expand the number of students in this unique and diverse
training program.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10912714
- **Project number:** 5T32GM150524-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** DIANNA M MILEWICZ
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $542,949
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-23 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10912714

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10912714, Medical Scientist Training Program (5T32GM150524-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10912714. Licensed CC0.

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