Research Training Experiences

The Mucosal Immunology and Developmental Gastroenterology Laboratories have had a twenty-five year experience in training undergraduate students, medical students, graduate students and postdoctoral/pediatric gastroenterology fellows in mucosal immunology and developmental gastroenterology. Many of these students have gone on to a research career in gastrointestinal immunology. Background information is available for a research training experience at each of these levels.

Undergraduate College Students

In general, college students who are biochemistry, biology, chemistry, or premedical, majors can apply for a summer fellowship in the summer following their junior year in college, e.g., after junior level courses in biochemistry, biology and other related disciplines, or as part of the DePauw University Science Research Fellows (SRF) Program. These Science Fellows can plan to spend a summer and a semester either preceding (spring semester) or following (fall semester) their summer in the laboratory. Our experience with this program and with other undergraduates has allowed these students to decide on a career in medicine or science. Many pre-medical students as a result of the summer or summer/semester experience have decided to apply for MD/PhD programs rather than MD programs after the experience. Any student interested in a summer fellowship should contact Dr. Allan Walker (wwalker@partners.org) by the January before the anticipated summer experience in order to ensure placement and funding for the fellowship. Science Fellows from DePauw University should contact the Director of the Science Research Fellows Program via scifellows@depauw.edu in the semester preceding the planned research experience to ensure SRF credit for the internship experience. Other DePauw University students interested in linking a semester with a research summer in the laboratory need to be planning a year in advance and the Science Research Fellows office can help them navigate the university application process.

Since 1994, this laboratory has had a close relationship with the Science Research Fellows Program at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. Thirty students have come to Boston to take advantage of the biomedical laboratory experience, witness pediatric medical rounds on the wards of MGH Hospital for Children, or shadow medical doctors in various subspecialties during winter term. These undergraduate students have gone on to medical schools throughout the USA as medical students or as MD-PhD students (Vijay Rao, University of South Carolina; David Peaper, Yale University; Cheryl Young, Emory University School of Medicine). Others have chosen to get a PhD degree in molecular biology, immunology, or nutrition.

List of DePauw students since 1994:

1994	Mike Lalich	MD	Indiana University
1995	Vijay Rao	MD/PhD	University of South Carolina
	Jennifer Cooper	MD	Johns Hopkins
1996	Heather Phillips	MD	(unknown)
	Megan Maine	MD	(unknown)
1997	David Peaper	MD/PhD	Yale University
	Holly Richter	MD	Indiana University
1998	Corrie Klopcic	MD	University of Wisconsin; Intern-Pediatrics, MGH Hospital for Children
1999	Dawn Algren	PhD	University of California, Davis
	Eugene Chio	MD	Indiana University
2000	Jake Bosley	MD	Case Western Reserve
	Alison (Frank) Chapman	MD	Vanderbilt University; Intern-Pediatrics, Duke
2001	Kristin Spellmeyer	MD	Indiana University
2002	David Scott	MD	Indiana University
2003	Cheryl Young	MD/PhD	Emory University
	Adam Werne	MD	Indiana University
	Netecia Williams	PhD	Washington University
	Meredith Haas		Industry
	Luke Scheidler	PhD	Environmental Studies
2004	Sonia Miller	MD	Harvard
	Patrick Murphy	MD/PhD	(in progress)
	Sudeep Prajapati	PhD	Cornell University Weill School of Medicine
2005	Aliese Sarkissian	MD	(in progress)
	Jennifer Pasko	MD	(in progress)
	Amy Baker		Peace Corp, HIV, Africa
	Rupak Shivakoti	PhD	Boston (in progress)
	Rex Pillai	MD	British Columbia (application pending)

Winter Term

Amy Heacock - CH/Nutrition
Megan Maine - CH/Gastroenterology
Heidi Reddersdorf - CH/Psychiatry
Jennifer Cooper - MGH/Gastroenterology

(CH - Children’s Hospital Boston)
(MGH - Pediatric Service at Massachusetts General Hospital)

Medical Students Fellowship

Generally medical students can participate in a summer research experience after their first year in medical school and can obtain a position in the laboratory by contacting either Dr. Allan Walker (wwalker@partners.org) or individual laboratory investigators. To ensure funding, contacts need to be made six months in advance.

Graduate Students

PhD and MD/PhD graduate students in the Immunology Program or Microbiology Program can contact individual investigators with permission from their advisors to consider a research plan for their thesis. Please make contact with individual investigators for this purpose.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Currently there are fourteen postdoctoral fellows in our laboratory (see sidebar). They have generally made direct contact with a principal investigator in the laboratory to secure a position. We also have several postdoctoral PhDs and MDs from outside of the United States who come for a period of two to three years. These individuals are funded by a variety of vehicles (NRSA’s, training grant slots, foundation and unrestricted grants from industry). To obtain more information about our program contact either Dr. Allan Walker or individual investigators. For general information contact Ms. Suzzette McCarron.

Student Publications

Long KZ, Santos JI, Estrada Garcia T, Haas M, Firestone M, Bhagwat J, Dupont HL, Hertzmark E, Rosado JL, Nanthakumar NN. Vitamin A supplementation reduces the monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 intestinal immune response of Mexican children. J Nutr 2006;136:2600-5

New Hampshire, Summer 2006

Research

Research Opportunities

Current Postdoctoral Research Fellows: