Summer Research Programs for UW Medical Students

The UW Cardiovascular Research Center Summer Research Opportunities Program places UW medical students between years I and II into cardiovascular sciences laboratory settings. This program offers a stipend for a minimum 8 weeks to a maximum of 12 weeks for medical student interns. Jonathan Makielski, MD, Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular Medicine) and Director of the UW Cardiovascular Research Center Training Program, coordinates this activity. Medical students apply through the Herman Shapiro Research Program (see UW School of Medicine and Public Health web site http://www.med.wisc.edu/education/md/student_research/).

The program is designed to provide students with an appreciation for the nature of scientific research and develop skills in data collection, analysis, and presentation of results to the medical community. Typically, research projects are more advanced than those undertaken by medical students in their undergraduate years. Proposed projects have a central hypothesis or research goal, with experiments that are designed to test the hypothesis through the collection of quantifiable data.

Students in this program have an opportunity to submit abstracts for poster or oral presentations at the UW Medical School Fall Research Day, as well as the UW Cardiovascular Research Center’s annual Scientific Poster Fair held in December.

2008 Summer Research Opportunities

The laboratories listed in the attached document (click here) are from mentors who have specific projects for students.  Students should contact these mentors, and then apply for summer research to the Herman Shapiro Summer Research Award Program. The UW Cardiovascular Research Center will provide matching funding for students interested in cardiovascular research settings.  The application deadline for the Shapiro Program is March 3, 2008, with notification by early April, 2008. 

2007 Activities

During the summer of 2007, the UW Cardiovascular Research Center sponsored eleven medical students in cardiovascular research laboratories:

• Mourad Abouelleil, collaborating with Susan Smith, Ph.D., Professor, Nutritional Sciences on, “The Effect on Angiotensin II in Cardiac Hypertrophy.”

• Christopher Baggottt, collaborating with DanDan Sun, MD, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Neurosurgery, on “The Role of Cation-Chloride Cotransporters in Neuropathic Hyperalgesia Following Spinal Cord and Peripheral Nerve Injuries.”

• Paul Bergl, collaborating with Naomi Chesler, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, on “Comparing the Role of Nitric Oxide Pathways in Modulating Pulmonary Vascular Impedance During Hypoxic Exposure.”

• Jensena Carlson, collaborating with Marlowe Eldridge, MD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, on "Functional Regulation of Inducible Intrapulmonary Arteriovenous Shunt Pathways in Hypoxic Pulmonary Hypertension.”

• Keri Drake, collaborating with Pamela Kling, MD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, on “Interplay Between Iron and Erythropoietin on Renal Development in Newborn Rats.”

• Meghan Furlong, collaborating with William Shrage, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Kinesiology, on “Aging and Microvascular Dysfunction in Human Skeletal Muscle.”

• Andrew Janowski, collaborating with Gary Lyons, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Anatomy, on “Axotrophin’s Role in Cytokine Production in Human T Cell Lines and Primary Human T Lymphocyte Cultures.”

• Li Lin, collaborating with DanDan Sun, MD, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Neurosurgery, on “The Role of Cation-Chloride Cotransporters in Neuropathic Hyperalgesia Following Spinal Cord and Peripheral Nerve Injuries.”

• Irene Rahman, collaborating with Nancy Sweitzer, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine, on “Assessment of Cardiac Functional Reserve in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction.”

• Anjali Tannan, collaborating with Amish Raval, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine, on “MRI to detect residually bound iron oxide/dextran on CD133+ endothelial progenitor cells following magnetic separation with the CliniMACS Cell Sorting System.”

• Olamide Zaka, collaborating with Pamela Kling, MD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, on “Iron Deficiency, Ethnicity and Maternal-Child Interactions in Infancy.”

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