Welcome from the Director

Welcome from the Director

Richard Steinman, MD PhD

This newsletter celebrates some of the events in the past year for students in the Physician Scientist Training Program (PSTP) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. This 5 year merit program offers select Pitt medical students an enrichment curriculum beyond medical school coursework that includes 6 research-oriented courses, two summers of lab work and a focused year of laboratory research. The PSTP is in its eighth year and has graduated 23 students who have averaged over 4 scientific papers each. Students in the PSTP have earned multiple awards, including a dozen Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship awards, travel awards to national and international meetings and grants from foundations.

Each PSTP student arrives with research experience and skills and grows beyond that level in critical ways in the program. Students learn to strategically and deliberately identify the best mentor for themselves, and stretch their comfort zone. They share what they are learning. Creative ideas ricochet around the classroom. This process churns the soil for innovative hypotheses to take root. It is a fun environment, importantly.

The dynamics that fuel progress through the PSTP will carry trainees through the rest of their careers. We do our best to promote reflection with biannual self-assessments and career advisor meetings aimed at identifying resources, calibrating goals and overcoming obstacles. I am hopeful that this blossoming culture of success will send its tendrils with our graduates through residency, fellowships and beyond.

It has been an honor to work with the 30 students in the program and with our graduates. I look forward to the next cycle of applicants to our PSTP.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

PSTP student Erica Nakajima represents HHMI at International Achievement Summit in San Francisco

Erica Nakajima, a fourth-year PSTP student, was selected as one of four Howard Hughes Medical Fellows to attend the Academy of Achievement's International Achievement Summit in San Francisco, CA in September 2014.  As a delegate, she interacted with over 100 other young delegates and 100 Academy members who have made tremendous contributions through their careers in science, medicine, government, technology, and the arts.  Describing the conference, Ms. Nakajima says, "The Academy members gave fascinating and inspirational talks about the paths of their discoveries.  Some of my favorite talks addressed current issues from experts in the field.  Francis Collins, director of the NIH spoke on the Ebola outbreak, and the current commander of NATO, General Philip Breedlove, addressed the present conflict in Ukraine.  I felt that the Summit was a call to act and think boldly, to be less afraid of failure. These messages were very well timed as I consider my future medical career."  Ms. Nakajima spent her time as a HHMI Fellow in 2012-2013 investigating the impact of hypoxia upon tumor metabolism and intratumoral heterogeneity in the lab of Dr. Bennett Van Houten.​
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