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Principal Investigator: Matt Vassar
Organization: OSU CENTER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $40,192
Funding agency: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Project Summary/Abstract
The objective of this proposal is to establish a short-term summer research program for
American Indian medical students to work jointly with mentors at 10 National Institute on Alcohol
Abuse and Alcoholism-funded alcohol research centers and Oklahoma State University Center
for Health Sciences to conduct studies focused on making alcohol research more rigorous and
reproducible. A critical need exists to increase the number of American Indian
physician-scientists, and our institution — which has partnered with the Cherokee Nation to
establish the first and only tribally-affiliated medical school in the United States — is uniquely
suited for this program.
Matt Vassar, PhD, will lead this T-35 program. Dr. Vassar established and leads a highly
successful summer research program for medical students. Since its inception 4 years ago, this
program has directly produced 52 publications. Seventy-one percent of the medical students
who have completed the summer research program continue to be active in research following
program completion. Overall, Dr. Vassar’s student mentorship record includes 137 medical
students who have co-authored over 100 peer reviewed publications with him. Vassar will be
assisted by numerous medical school leaders with records of success in research, mentorship,
and administration. The program will also benefit from additional financial/administrative support
from the President and Dean of the Medical School, the Vice President for Research and Chief
Research Officer, and the Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
We have an outstanding group of 52 program mentors for our AI medical students for 4 summer
students in year 1 and increasing to 6 students by year 5 of the grant. Students will receive
direct experience in research for 2 months, and these experiences include a one-week visitation
to the mentor’s research center to participate in team meetings and outreach activities and to
explore careers as physician-scientists. Additional contact (2 times per week) with the mentors
will occur over Oklahoma State University’s video conferencing technologies. Medical students
will participate in weekly didactic and case-based sessions provided by mentors from
participating research centers to learn about alcohol research, the responsible conduct of
research, and engaging in practices that promote rigor and reproducibility. The culminating
event of the program will be submitting all manuscripts for publication during an article
submission party. Program success will be monitored by longitudinal surveys of students and
mentors and through oversight by Internal and External Advisory committees.
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