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2010 South Regional Meeting

On behalf of the organizing committee, it is our pleasure to invite you to the 3rd South Regional Meeting to be hosted at the Texas A&M Health Sciences Center on November 13, 2010. We look forward to hosting physician-scientist trainees from the South region and beyond.

Financial Support:

The American Physician Scientists Association would like to gratefully thank the following organizations for their financial support for 3rd South Regional Meeting in College Station, TX.

Scott & White
Texas Brain & Spine Institute
Memorial Hermann Healthcare System
American Physician Scientists Association
Mays Business School has graciously provided the location

Participants Listing

Click Here to find out who else is attending the 2010 South Regional Meeting (Participant List is open only to current members of APSA)

Tentative Agenda

Breakout Session 1:

Applying to Medical Schools & MD/PhD Programs

This will be a Q& A session specifically for undergraduate students on creating a successful application. Examples of questions that will be addressed include:

1. How much more research do I need to do to apply to an MD/PhD program?
2. Should I apply to a certain MD/PhD program based on clinical training or research training?
3. Should I apply to both the MD only and MD/PhD programs at the same school or is it better to commit to the MD/PhD program only at the time of application?
4. Is MD/PhD a “ back door” to getting accepted into medical school?

Moderator: Amanda Cernosik did her undergraduate work at the University of Oklahoma and is currently a second year medical student in the MD/PhD program at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

Panelists:

Dr. Julian Leibowitz is Professor of Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and has a cross-appointment as Professor of Veterinary Pathobiology in the Texas A& M University College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Leibowitz did his undergraduate work in Chemistry at Alfred University and subsequently earned his M.D. and Ph.D. (in Cell Biology) degrees from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He subsequently completed his internship and residency in Pathology at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Neuropathology, also at UCSD. He serves as Program Director for the MD/PhD program at the Texas A& M Health Science Center College of Medicine. Under his direction the program has seen incredible growth.

Hung Doan completed his undergraduate studies in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The University of Texas, Austin. He is currently a graduate student training in the laboratory of Dr. Kenichi Fujise as an MD/PhD student at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX.

Javier Figueroa studied Biochemistry at the U.S. Air Force Academy and received his M.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Colorado in 2005. He has worked as a Department of Defense satellite engineer and in research with the Air Force on numerous bioterrorism agents. Javier is currently in the lab pursuing his MD/PhD at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

Anita Mantri MD/PhD student at Texas A& M Health Science Center

Choosing a Lab

Target audience is M1-M3 MD/PhD students who will be choosing a lab for the PhD portion of their training, as well as medical students at any stage of training who are interested in research as a significant aspect of their future career. Issues to be discussed include:

1. How do I know if a lab has funding?
   1. Does the PI pay student’ s tuition?
2. What is the average length of time graduate students are in the lab prior to graduating?
3. What is the PI’ s attitude towards MD/PhD students?
4. Should I choose a lab based on my specific career interests?
5. What is the work environment/hours in the lab?
6. What does it mean for a PI to be a good mentor?

Moderator: John Reneau did his undergraduate work in Biochemistry at the University of Dallas. He has completed three years of medical school and is currently a second-year graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Darwin Prockop at the Texas A& M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

Panelists:

Alyssa Baker did her undergraduate work in Neuroscience at the University of Texas at Dallas. She then earned her M.S. in Neuroscience, also from the University of Texas at Dallas. Besides her work at UT Dallas, Alyssa has also worked extensively in research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and Los Alamos National Laboratories. She is currently a graduate student of the Carlton Laboratory in the MD/PhD program at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX.

Rene Colorado completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology at The University of Texas, Austin. He is an MD/PhD student at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston and is working in the laboratory of Dr. Ponnada Narayana in the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging.

Others TBD

Positioning for Success

The target audience is students preparing to finish the program and apply to residency. This session will be a very broad Q& A format session designed to answer questions regarding the following questions/issues:

1. Are there any programs that I would be particularly competitive for given my interest in research (or having an MD/PhD, publications, etc.)?
2. Why should I apply to a Physician-Scientist Training Program (combined residency/post-doc)?
3. Can I do research during residency?
4. Residency/Post-Doc application specifics

Moderator: Joseph Tingling  completed his undergraduate studies in Biology at Prairie View A& M University. He has completed two years of medical school and is currently a fourth-year graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Rajesh Miranda at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

Panelists:

Dr. Gregory Bix  did his undergraduate work in Neuroscience and Biology at Brandeis University. Dr. Bix then earned his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX in 1998 and completed his M.D. in 2000, also at Baylor College of Medicine. From 2000-2001 he completed his pediatric internship at Baylor College of Medicine and in 2001 was awarded a fellowship in neurology at the Children’ s Hospital of Philadelphia. He trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Thomas Jefferson University from 2002-2005 and became a Research Assistant Professor there in 2006. In 2007, Dr. Bix joined the faculty of the Texas A& M Health Science Center College of Medicine, where he is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine.

Other panelists TBD

Breakout Session 2:

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

This session is designed to address specific questions and issues regarding undergraduate research. It will be at a different time than the session on Applying to Medical Schools and MD/PhD Programs in order to provide interested undergraduate students the opportunity to hear more specifically about research as an undergraduate, separate from the rest of the medical school application. Typical questions that will be addressed include:

1. Is it better to do biomedical research?
2. Should I join a new lab or an established lab?
3. What is a good time-frame for a project?
4. Should I focus on research in summer alone (SURF programs) or is it feasible todo research during the school year?

Moderator: Luke Potts did his undergraduate work in Chemistry at the University of Texas at Tyler. He has completed three years of medical school and is currently a second-year graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Lih Kuo at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

Panelists:

Dr. Warren Zimmer is the Scott Exter Professor of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. Dr. Zimmerearned his Ph.D. from Baylor College of Medicine and continued as a postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt University College of Medicine. Dr. Zimmer currently serves as Director of the Summer Undergraduate Research Program at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. He has mentored numerous undergraduate, graduate, and medical students through the years.

Dr. Norbert Herzog did his undergraduate work in Bacteriology at University of California, Los Angeles prior to obtaining an M.D. from California State University,Northridge and subsequently a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin. He continued his training at The Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, CA and then at UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston before joining the faculty at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Dr. Herzog is currently a Professor in the UTMB Department of Pathology and Microbiology and Immunology and Associate Dean in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He has been selectedas a member of the UTMB Academy of Master Teachers and has been named a UT System Distinguished Teaching Professor. Among his graduate school responsibilities is direction of the UTMB Summer Undergraduate Research Program, and he is also in charge of the graduate school recruitment efforts.

Evan Cherry did his undergraduate work in Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. He is currently a first year medical student in the MD/PhD program at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. In 2008, Evan participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program at the Texas A&M HealthScience Center.
Liam Guthrie did his undergraduate work in Biology and Chemistry at Midwestern State University. He is currently a first year medical student in the MD/PhD program at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

Bench to Bedside and the Big Picture

This session is intended to give perspective to students on how to balance a career as both a scientist and clinician. Examples of topics to be addressed during this session include the following:

1. Do my research interests need to exactly parallel my clinical interests?
2. What is the right/feasible mix of research and clinical activities?
3. Are some specialties more conducive to doing research simultaneously with clinical activity?

Moderator: Gavin Roddy did his undergraduate work in Biomedical Sciences at Texas A& M University in College Station, TX. He has completed two years of medical school and iscurrently a second-year graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Darwin Prockop at the Texas A& M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

Panelists:

Dr. David Greenberg is an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He will be representing the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) at this meeting. It is a privilege to have the Society represented at the meeting, and it is our hope that this is the first of many IDSA/APSA collaborations to come.

Other panelists TBD

Women Physician-Scientists: Challenges & Opportunities

As the name implies, this session is intended to provide practical information on dealing with the unique challenges and opportunities facing women pursuing careers as physician-scientists. Some of the topics and questions that will be addressed include:
How to find a mentor?How best to network?How to balance work and family?When is the best time to have a family during your career?What discrepancies are there in the work place for men and women?

Moderator: MD/PhD Student TBD

Panelists:

Shruti Ghandy did her undergraduate work in Biomedical Sciences at Cornell University. She entered medical school at Texas A& M Health Science Center College of Medicine in 2008 and joined the MD/PhD program there in 2010. Shruti was President of the Women in Medicine interest group at Texas A& M Health Science Center Collegeof Medicine during the 2009-2010 academic year.

Other panelists TBD