The POB provides a unique opportunity for graduate students interested in pursuing a research experience that exposes them to a translational research environment. This dynamic setting enables students/fellows to learn basic pathophysiology of pediatric solid tumors and leukemias as well as current clinical therapies and experimental clinical approaches for the treatment of children with cancer. The NIH campus provides access to investigators utilizing basic model systems, systems biology, the latest genomic interrogative systems as well as translational research environments which synergize to decipher the pathophysiology of human disease in order to improve the health of children.
While the NIH does not have formal degree-granting authority, it has partnered with a number of institutions in the greater metropolitan DC area as well as around the country (see NIH Graduate Partnerships Program) and increasingly around the world with the NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program or the NIH-Karolinska Program. Also a number of Medical Schools have programs that enable students earning their MD to stop the MD clock and study for a PhD. Finally, Pediatric-Hematology Oncology Fellows during their Fellowship training can also study for their PhD.
Graduate Student Alumni Spotlight: Adrienne Long
Adrienne entered Northwestern University in 2005 as a member of the Honors Program in Medical Education (HPME), a combined BS/MD program. During her undergraduate training, Adrienne studied biomedical engineering with an emphasis in biomaterials and biotechnology. It was through these studies that she first became interested in biomedical research. In 2008, Adrienne graduated summa cum laude and matriculated into Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine. While in medical school, she decided to take time away from the traditional curriculum to pursue a year of research training at the NIH, through the NIH-Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Research Scholars Program. Adrienne joined the Immunology Section with Dr. Crystal Mackall to study how genetically engineered T cells can be used for the treatment of cancer. Excited by the research she was conducting, Adrienne applied to and was accepted into Northwestern’s MD/PhD Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) and arranged an Individual Partnership between Northwestern and the NIH through NIH’s Graduate Partnerships Program (GPP). This has allowed her to continue conducting her dissertation research while staying at the NIH. While at the NIH, she has presented her work at numerous national meetings, including talks at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meetings. She also received an AACR Women in Cancer Research Scholar Award in 2014.
One of the most important lessons that she has learned during her time at the NIH is the value of learning about topics outside of your specific field. “It is easy to only read papers directly related to your project, but that can limit you into approaching problems just as they have always been approached. Learning about other topics allows you to bring a fresh perspective and new techniques to tackle a problem.”
Graduate Student Alumni Spotlight: Adrienne Long
Adrienne entered Northwestern University in 2005 as a member of the Honors Program in Medical Education (HPME), a combined BS/MD program. During her undergraduate training, Adrienne studied biomedical engineering with an emphasis in biomaterials and biotechnology. It was through these studies that she first became interested in biomedical research. In 2008, Adrienne graduated summa cum laude and matriculated into Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine. While in medical school, she decided to take time away from the traditional curriculum to pursue a year of research training at the NIH, through the NIH-Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Research Scholars Program. Adrienne joined the Immunology Section with Dr. Crystal Mackall to study how genetically engineered T cells can be used for the treatment of cancer. Excited by the research she was conducting, Adrienne applied to and was accepted into Northwestern’s MD/PhD Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) and arranged an Individual Partnership between Northwestern and the NIH through NIH’s Graduate Partnerships Program (GPP). This has allowed her to continue conducting her dissertation research while staying at the NIH. While at the NIH, she has presented her work at numerous national meetings, including talks at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meetings. She also received an AACR Women in Cancer Research Scholar Award in 2014.
One of the most important lessons that she has learned during her time at the NIH is the value of learning about topics outside of your specific field. “It is easy to only read papers directly related to your project, but that can limit you into approaching problems just as they have always been approached. Learning about other topics allows you to bring a fresh perspective and new techniques to tackle a problem.”