FNIH Contact: Charles Pucie

301-402-5311

30 NEW CLINICAL RESEARCH FELLOWS AT NIH ANNOUNCED

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Eleventh Year of Path Breaking Program

BETHESDA, Md., June 6--The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has selected the 30 participants for its 2007-2008 Clinical Research Training Program for Medical and Dental Students. They will begin their fellowships at the NIH campus in July and August. The fellowships afford medical and dental students who have completed their clinical rotations the opportunity to work at NIH for 12 months in their chosen field of clinical or translational research.

Since 1998, the Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP) has been supported by Pfizer Inc through grants to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health as part of Pfizer’s commitment to public-private partnerships. Funding by Pfizer began in 1998 in the form of three-year grants that enabled the program to grow to 15 students annually starting with the 1998-1999 class. Additional support from the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, starting with the 2004-2005 class, allowed the program to grow to 30 students annually. A total of 210 students have participated in the program to date. NIH reviews and makes all fellowship selections based on applications received from students around the country. This year’s recipients were selected from a field of 86 applicants.

The 30 fellows selected for 2007-2008 are:

Monica Agarwal, Boston University School of Medicine
Andrew Baschnagel, University at Buffalo State University of New York School of

Medicine & Biomedical Sciences

Aaron Brown, University of Utah School of Medicine
Matthew Brown, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
Ariel Bulua, Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University
Monica Constantinescu, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
James Cooper, University of California San Diego School of Medicine
Sharifeh Farasat, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Bryan Gammon, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

Southwestern Medical School

Jeffrey Gordon, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Daniel Groves, Duke University School of Medicine
Tiffany Hodges, Duke University School of Medicine
Kiranpreet Khurana, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Benjamin Korman, Ohio State University College of Medicine
Megan Krajewski, University of Michigan Medical School
Philip Lee, University of Washington School of Medicine
Nick Liu, Georgetown University School of Medicine
Priya Mahindra, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of

Medicine

Jason McKellop, University of Michigan Medical School
Abimbola Obafemi, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School
Daniel Ong, Duke University School of Medicine
Babak Orandi, University of Michigan Medical School
Asha Patel, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine
Krish Patel, Duke University School of Medicine
Melissa Rooney, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Melody Smith, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

Southwestern Medical School

Michael Su, New York University School of Medicine
Erick Tarula, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science/David Geffen

School of Medicine at UCLA

Todd Theman, Harvard Medical School
Gregory Walker, University of Arizona College of Medicine

Founded in 1887, the National Institutes of Health today is one of the world's foremost biomedical research centers, and the Federal government’s focal point for medical research in the United States. The NIH, comprising 27 separate Institutes and Centers, is one of eight health agencies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Simply described, the goal of NIH research is to acquire new knowledge to help prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat disease and disability, from the rarest genetic disorder to the common cold. The NIH mission is to uncover new knowledge that will lead to better health for everyone. NIH works toward that mission by: conducting research in its own laboratories; supporting the research of non-Federal scientists in universities, medical schools, hospitals, and research institutions throughout the country and abroad; helping in the training of research investigators; and fostering communication of medical and health sciences information.

The Clinical Research Training Program fits into the NIH mission since it supports 30 energetic and bright medical and dental students who will develop a better understanding of the principles and practice of clinical and translational research while engaged in the didactic and research components of the program. The individuals participating in CRTP represent the next generation of clinician-scientists, and this program has been highlighted in the NIH Roadmap as part of its re-engineering the clinical enterprise initiative (http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/clinicalresearch/index.asp), exactly for that reason.

Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures and markets leading prescription medicines for humans and animals. In addition to supporting the NIH Clinical Research Training Program, Pfizer, through its External Medical Affairs Group creates and manages other pioneering public-private partnership programs and advances cutting-edge public health research. One such public-private partnership program is a clinical epidemiology fellowship program which is currently completing its third year at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Moreover, Pfizer's External Medical Affairs Group supports 14 grants and awards though its Medical & Academic Partnerships (MAP) initiative. These grants provide financial support for fellows, scholars, and eligible institutions in a wide range of therapeutic areas, health literacy topics, and public health issues. Pfizer also supports institutions that host visiting professors in a variety of clinical and public health areas. Recipients of these nationally competitive MAP grants are selected by independent academic advisory boards made up of leaders in each program’s field.

The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health was established by the United States Congress to support the mission of the National Institutes of Health—improving health through scientific discovery. The Foundation identifies and develops opportunities for innovative public-private partnerships involving industry, academia, and the philanthropic community. A non-profit, 501©(3) corporation, the Foundation raises private-sector funds for a broad portfolio of unique programs that complement and enhance NIH priorities and activities. The Foundation’s Web site address is www.fnih.org.

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