Winston-Salem, N.C. -- Five students in the Wake Forest University School of Medicine Ph.D. program in molecular medicine have recently won awards for their research. The training program is one of the first in the country to provide clinical training to doctoral students who are studying the biology of cells and molecules.
The overall objective of the program is to educate future investigators in research that translates to human disease, said Charles McCall, M.D., professor of molecular medicine. These awards attest to the program's success.
The training program is one of two molecular medicine programs in the country funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to train four students a year. Of 35 students currently enrolled in the program, six have been supported by the training grant and nine have been awarded individual fellowships from the NIH or other organizations.
This program focused on translational research before the concept was developed nationally, said McCall, referring to an effort by the NIH for the nation's scientists to focus on rapidly translating knowledge from the laboratory to the bedside to benefit patients. It meets a major objective of the new Roadmap Program of the NIH.
The awards will pay for the students to complete the research phase of their training. The goal of their projects is to apply the latest knowledge of molecular medicine, the science of exploring what goes wrong at the cellular level, to better define the cause or treatment of disease.
Students are taught by both physicians and basic scientists from a variety of fields, including internal medicine, biochemistry, regenerative medicine, surgery, neuroscience, genetics, microbiology/immunology, and cancer biology.
The program includes two years of classes and three years of research with an established scientist. Before beginning the research phase of the program, students have an eight-week clinical rotati
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Contact: Karen Richardson
krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu
336-716-4453
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
14-Aug-2006