# National Research Service Award-Medical Scientist

> **NIH NIH T32** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $2,341,046

## Abstract

The Washington University Medical Scientist Training Program at Washington University in St. Louis was established in
1969, and has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1970. It has trained 658 MD-PhDs, more than any program in
the nation. As it has been since the program's founding, our primary goal is to identify, train, and mentor a diverse
group of women and men who will become leaders biomedical research, patient care, and medical education. To that
end, we have designed a flexible, individualized training pathway that emphasizes the integration of clinical and research
training. The University's substantial commitment to the program is evident not only in providing 68% ($8.6 million in
FY2018) of the total MSTP budget, but also in tailoring the curriculum and policies to accommodate the unique
requirements of MD-PhD training. Appointments to this T32 are typically made for the first 3 years of training. We are
able to leverage each of the grant’s 44 training slots by a factor of 4.4 through university and other funds, which allows
us to support a current population of 192 students. To select individuals to train in the program, we focus primarily on
academic achievement, research experience, and a commitment to a research career. Students typically train in the
Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, a trans-university consortium of 11 doctoral programs, but a significant
number train in other academic units, including Biomedical Engineering. The 156 training faculty for this proposal are
out of a total population in these academic units of over 570 tenure-track faculty. Policies are in place to select faculty
for participation in graduate training, and training faculty are reviewed every 5 years. Our program enjoys strong
interactions with other programs at Washington University for training of physician-scientists after they receive their
doctorates, i.e., Physician-Scientist Training Programs (PSTPs) in our clinical residency and fellowship programs. Student
attrition is low and has declined significantly over the past 10 years. Time to degree has stabilized at 8.0 years, and is
lower than the national average. Outcomes data shows that 78% of those that have completed postgraduate training
are employed by academic institutions, research institutes, federal agencies, and biotech or pharmaceutical firms. Many
have research support from the NIH or other sources, and some have leadership roles in other MD-PhD programs.
While our program has had a long history of success, we are cognizant of the future challenges facing our trainees to
achieve success in careers as physician-scientists involved in basic and translational research. To help them reach the
highest levels of success, our goals for the next 5 years include: 1) Providing our trainees with academic programs that
integrate basic science with clinical medicine; 2) Providing our trainees with a new career mentorship program that
features successful physician-scientists; 3) Bu...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9791625
- **Project number:** 2T32GM007200-46
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Wayne M. Yokoyama
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $2,341,046
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1975-07-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9791625

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9791625, National Research Service Award-Medical Scientist (2T32GM007200-46). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9791625. Licensed CC0.

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