Applications for the 2008 program are now closed
A shortage of clinical investigators spans all health professions. The growing chasm between research opportunities and numbers of trained clinical researchers has been recognized and documented through numerous reports. While various existing programs provide sound training for post-doctoral fellows and young faculty, they do not address pipeline issues of stimulating interest in and providing initial clinical research training to pre-doctoral students of dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health, or veterinary medicine (D.D.S., D.V.M., M.D., Pharm.D., D.N.P., or Ph.D).
The Academic Health Center Office of Clinical Research is therefore pleased to announce the availability of paid fellowships and training in clinical and translational research for pre-doctoral AHC students. Applications will be reviewed by a multidisciplinary committee, consisting of representatives from all AHC colleges/schools. NOTE: The application deadline was 4:00 p.m., Feb. 1, 2008.
The 2007 Pre-Doctoral Fellows:
SARAH BARNES, Medical School. Sara earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from Northwestern University, where she was a study abroad student in health policy and public health and a project coordinator on a clinical research project. She is particularly interested in peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and also hopes to learn more about the research ethics and administrative responsibilities involved in running a lab and conducting clinical research.
RICHARD BEDDINGFIELD, Medical School. The University of Michigan Business School (Ann Arbor) was where Richard gained business and organizational skills while earning a degree in computer information systems. He has assisted a physician at Hennepin County Medical Center with her ongoing research on adult health literacy. His special research interest in urology deals with a clinical trial of the effects of alfuzosin hydrochloride on patients with ureteral stents.
DARLENE BJORKLUND, School of Nursing. Darlene is earning a Ph.D. in nursing and was a clinical scholar in the Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership, 2001-2003. Her Ph.D. field of study focuses on pain management and older adults, an area in which she has published and spoken widely. She is an experienced nurse with a good deal of clinical experience.
LISA BORGIA, College of Veterinary Medicine. Biology and communications were Lisa’s undergraduate fields at Penn State. While an M.S. student at Florida International University, she investigated the role of human activities on the reproductive success of wading birds. Her findings were used specifically to determine future management of the ecosystem.
JUSTIN LAUBE, Medical School. Justin graduated in honors biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he had opportunities to be exposed to a wide array of research projects involving ecological, molecular and organismal systems. He had research experiences in the Keck brain-imaging lab and in the Harlow Primate Center and won the Trewartha Undergraduate Research award for his senior honors thesis.
SARAH McAVOY, Medical School. While earning an undergraduate degree in biology and chemistry at Carroll College, Sarah worked as an intern in a clinical cytogenetics testing lab doing karyotyping. She has also worked as a laboratory technologist in a research lab at Mayo Clinic, serving in the department of experimental pathology within the Cancer Center.
BARRIE MILLER, Medical School. Barrie earned an undergraduate degree in biology and psychology from The College of St. Catherine and an M.P.H. in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota. She currently works on a clinical research project in the Department of Dermatology with Dr. Kimberly Bohjanen. The project looks at recalcitrant pruritus in cutaneous T-call lymphoma (CTCL) and aims at a better understanding of the role of the peripheral nervous system in CTCL and the mechanisms of pain and itch for the CTCL patient.
ARINZECHUKWU NKEMDIRIM (Arinze) OKERE, College of Pharmacy, Duluth. An undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Enugu State University, Nigeria, and a masters degree in biochemistry from Brigham Young University provided Arinze with research opportunities in the field of proteomics. He is now interested in understanding the interaction of drugs with receptors within the central nervous system, and how certain drugs can be delivered directly to the brain via the blood brain barrier.
STEPHANIE ROOT, College of Pharmacy, Duluth. Stephanie earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in French and political science. She has study research experience dealing with cell culture techniques and assays, including flow cytometry analysis, and her abstract on this laboratory work was selected for poster presentation at the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) 2007 annual meeting. She is interested in chemotherapeutic agents and improving outcomes for cancer patients.
DANA SIMONSON, College of Pharmacy, Twin Cities. After earning an undergraduate degree in English at the University of St. Thomas, Dana worked in both research and patient care. She has done basic science research in critical care, infectious disease and evolutionary botany, as well as working as a nursing assistant, patient care technician and community pharmacy technician. Her clinical research critical care interests are in cardiology, pulmonary medicine, nephrology and infectious disease.
MANDY STAHRE, School of Public Health. Mandy’s undergraduate degree in psychology is from the University of North Texas and she holds an MPH in epidemiology from the University of Michigan. For more than three years she worked in alcohol research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A Ph.D. student with an interest in lifestyle factors or behavior in relation to health outcomes, she will also seek experience with study design and data collection.
STEPHANIE WETZEL, School of Dentistry. Montana State University was where Stephanie earned an undergraduate degree in biological studies and served as junior scientist in the university’s Department of Agriculture. She has also done summer research at the following sites: the University of Rochester in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology; the Medical University of South Carolina in the Department of Neurobiology; and the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry.
LING XU, College of Pharmacy, Twin Cities. Her undergraduate degree with honors in biochemistry included a thesis on the synthesis, isolation and analysis of DNA adducts from environmental chemicals. Ling also did a summer internship at Medtronic in the Center of Biological Molecules. Her special interest is in the process of drug development, especially the steps involved in bringing an agent with shown efficacy to a medical product that improves patients’ lives.
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