As part of the continued support of the聽Accelerate Forward Together聽Strategic Plan, the 大象传媒 Physician Scientist Training Program (PSTP) supports a small number of clinicians committed to translating research findings to advance the practice of medicine in addition to providing clinical care and teaching. PSTP is a pipeline to recruit, train, and retain promising individuals and provide them with support and mentorship to cultivate their research programs.
The PSTP supports physician-scientists at both the resident or fellowship level and the early-stage faculty level. In this sixth round of awards, one award was given at the resident / fellowship level to Jeffery Jensen, MD, PhD, in the Department of Medicine.聽 Kathryn Gessner, MD, PhD, from the Department of Urology, Simon Gray, MD, PhD, from the Department of Medicine, and Lauren Kucirka, MD, PhD, from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology will each receive support at the early-stage faculty level.
鈥淪ince its inception this program has received nominations of young physician-scientists from multiple clinical departments each year, and has supported a total of twenty-one trainees at the critical transition point when their careers transition from fellow trainees to independent faculty researchers.聽 This year, our program received nominations at the fellowship and faculty level from seven different clinical departments, with each nominee conducting promising research projects across a diverse range of clinical and scientific interests鈥� said Joseph (Alex) Duncan, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and director of the 大象传媒 Physician Scientists Training Program. 鈥淔ellow trainees from the initial cohorts of this program have successfully transitioned from fellowship to faculty positions, fulfilling the program goal of growing our own physician-scientist work force. Our faculty awardees have also continued to have success in obtaining new research awards and publishing impactful scientific works. We are grateful that this strategic SOM program is available to support this year鈥檚 cohort of awardees at this critical stage of their career development.鈥�
Jensen鈥檚 research will focus on identifying and enhancing expression of novel targets for immunotherapeutics in NUT Carcinoma, an aggressive solid tumor that lacks effective treatments.
Gessner, an assistant professor in the Department of Urology, is interested in how extracellular signals in the tumor microenvironment regulate the differentiation and function of macrophages to promote the spread and resistance to treatment of bladder cancer. The primary goal of the research is to uncover new therapies that alter the function of tumor-associated macrophages and enhance the response of bladder cancers to treatments.
Gray, is an assistant professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and former SOM PSTP fellow awardee.聽 聽His research utilizes a unique model of Inflammatory Bowel Disease treatment failure he developed during his fellowship to identify the mechanisms underlying failure of advanced therapies for Crohn鈥檚 Disease and Ulcerative Colitis and ultimately help to identify new therapeutic targets for these diseases.
Kucirka is an assistant professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology who proposes to use artificial intelligence algorithms and large language models to better understand the distinguishing features of different types of pre-eclampsia, diseases related to pregnancy-associated hypertension. She will also determine the relation between different subtypes of disease and adverse clinical outcomes during pregnancy.
More information on the SOM PSTP program can be found on the website.