Two new microanatomical medical student summer research fellowships were added this year, funded by the Albert L. Rhoton Jr. Honor Your Mentor Fund. Since 2008, 20 medical student summer research fellowships have been funded each year by the NREF and five additional fellowships are being supported through a generous grant by Aaron Cohen-Gadol, MD, MSc, MBA, FAANS. With the addition of the two new fellowships, there are now 27 summer research projects funded by the NREF for medical students who have completed one or more years of medical school and are mentored by an AANS member/neurosurgical investigator sponsor.
The Medical Student Summer Research Fellowship (MSSRF) program offers fellowships in the amount of $2,500 to medical students in the United States or Canada who have completed one or two years of medical school and wish to spend a summer working in a neurosurgical laboratory, mentored by a neurosurgical investigator sponsor who is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS).
“These students are the key to the future of neurosurgery, and I look forward to many years of working with the NREF to support its mission,” commented Dr. Cohen-Gadol commented.
An award from the NREF can fuel a medical student’s passion for the specialty. One of the 2017 MSSRF recipients, Ali Jamal of the University of Saskatchewan, shared these thoughts about the award:
I would like to express tremendous gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Ivar Mendez at the University of Saskatchewan, and the NREF for this great opportunity. The experience has been invaluable and will lay the groundwork for my future endeavors. The MSSRF gave me the opportunity to learn from a surgeon-scientist whom I deeply respect. My interest in neurosurgery was fueled by the MSSRF. I am truly grateful to the NREF for their very significant contributions in my medical education and career development.
“Dr. Cohen-Gadol’s ongoing generosity allows the NREF to continue offering the kind of leading-edge training that helps launch research careers and ultimately advances patient care,” says NREF Chair Dr. Regis Haid, Jr.
The NREF Board of Directors is pleased to announce the 2018 recipients of the NREF Medical Student Summer Research Fellowships:
2018 Aaron Cohen-Gadol Medical Student Summer Research Fellows
- Arjun R. Adapa, University of Michigan
- Ayodamola Otun, Washington University School of Medicine
- Kobina Mensah-Brown, University of Pennsylvania
- Alexa Semonche, BA, University of Miami
- Olindi Wijesekera, Mayo Clinic Florida
2018 Rhoton Medical Student Summer Research Fellows
- Sricharan Gopakumar, Baylor University
- Brian F. Jimenez, University of Tennessee
2018 Medical Student Summer Research Fellows
- Pranish A. Kantak, MPH, University of Texas – Southwestern Medical Center
- Prasanth Romiyo, University of California, Los Angeles
- Jordan Matthew Spatz, PhD, University of California San Francisco
- Sharon Abada, MPH, Washington University
- Melissa Yuan, Weill Cornell Medicine
- Andrew M. Miller, BS, University of California San Francisco
- Benjamin Hopkins, Northwestern University
- Adam Lauko, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
- Morgan Lee, University of Southern California
- Shivani Baisiwala, Northwestern University
- Cole Rinehart, University of Pennsylvania
- Sheantel Reihl, University of California, San Francisco
- Edith Yuan, University of Southern California
- Hetshree Joshi (H.BSc), University Health Network
- Whi Inh Shirley Bae, University of California, Los Angeles
- Austin B. Carpenter MS, MMS, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Casey Jarvis, University of Southern California
- Jason Anthony Liew, Johns Hopkins University
- Eli Johnson, Stanford University School of Medicine
- Marissa D’Souza, Stanford Medical Center
Best 2017 MSSRF Abstract Presented at the 2018 AANS Annual Scientific Meeting
Mounica Reddy Paturu, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine
Project Title: Engineering 3D in vitro microenvironments to examine stem-like cell state and therapeutic response in Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM)
