What Are You Doing This Summer?

The UCSD Stein Institute for Research on Aging (SIRA)

has openings for first-year medical students

interested in a paid research training opportunity!

The Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) Program*

Funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Co-sponsors include the John A. Hartford Foundation

and the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR)

The UCSD Stein Institute for Research on Aging (SIRA) offers an intensive summer research training program to interested medical students. Up to 18 students from across the nation are paired with experienced scientists from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and three neighboring institutions (the Burnham Institute, the Salk Institute, and the Scripps Research Institute). They are provided an opportunity to conduct hands-on research by pursuing basic science, clinical or health services research projects in the broad areas of geriatrics and gerontology with their selected mentor (see page 2 for sample projects). Additionally, students complete a combination of didactics and workshops, and receive an introduction to clinical geriatrics, all of which reinforce the skills learned in the direct research experience. Duration of training varies from a minimum of 8 full-time consecutive weeks to a maximum of 12 weeks during the summer months. Students participating in the training program receive a stipend in the amount of approximately $1,700 per month, with amount prorated accordingly depending on training duration. At the conclusion of the training program, it is expected that all trainees will, at a minimum, have developed an abstract and drafted a poster with guidance from their mentor, with travel support provided to the students to present their poster at the American Geriatrics Society annual meeting.

This training experience can assist medical students meet their Independent Study Project (ISP) requirement.

Applications are due by February 7, 2007!

Interested in learning more?

Contact Jennifer Reichstadt, Program Director,

at 858-534-1226 or .

*formerly called the SMART Program

Potential Summer Research Project Examples

Research Area / Mentor / Institution / Department
Sleep Disorders / Sonia Ancoli-Israel, PhD / UCSD / Psychiatry
Epidemiology,
Healthy Aging / Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD / UCSD / Family & Preventive Medicine
Macular Degeneration / Stuart Brown, MD / Barbara Brody, MPH / UCSD / Shiley Eye Center
Cardiac Amyloidosis in Aging African Americans / Joel Buxbaum, MD / Scripps / Molecular and Experimental Medicine
Biology of Aging in
Nervous System / Laura L. Dugan, MD / UCSD / Medicine
Neuroplasticity, Gene Therapy / Fred Gage, PhD / Salk / Lab of Genetics
Biomarkers and Pharmacotherapy for MCI and Alzheimer’s Disease / Doug Galasko, MD / UCSD / Neurosciences
Quality of Life / Ted Ganiats, MD / UCSD / Family & Preventive Medicine
Schizophrenia, Healthy Aging / Dilip V. Jeste, MD / UCSD / Psychiatry and Neurosciences
Cognition, fMRI, Aging Twins / William Kremen, MD / UCSD / Psychiatry
Neurodegenerative Disorders / T. Dianne Langford, Ph.D. / UCSD / Pathology
Cell and Molecular
Mechanisms in Neurodegeneration / Stuart Lipton, MD / Burnham / Neurosciences
Pathophysiology and Treatment of Stroke / Patrick Lyden, MD / UCSD / Neurosciences
Mouse Models of
Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease / Eliezer Masliah, MD / UCSD / Neurosciences
Breast Cancer in
Elderly Women / Joanne Mortimer, MD / UCSD / Medicine
Medical Anthropology, Latinos / Lawrence Palinkas, PhD / UCSD / Family & Preventive Medicine
Prevention of Obesity
and Diabetes; Physical Activity / Kevin Patrick, MD / UCSD / Family & Preventive Medicine
Cancer and Psychosocial Issues / Georgia R. Sadler, PhD / UCSD / Moores Cancer Center
Cartilage Biomechanics / Robert Sah, MD, ScD / UCSD / Bioengineering
Neurocognition / David Salmon, PhD / UCSD / Neurosciences
Statistical Genetics,
Longevity Consortium / Nicholas Schork, PhD / UCSD / Psychiatry
Neurobiology of Aging
and Dementia / Leon Thal, MD / UCSD / Neurosciences
Gene Therapy for
Alzheimer’s Disease / Mark Tuszynski, MD, PhD / UCSD / Neurosciences