The UNC MD/PhD Program received five more years of T32 funding from the NIH/NIGMS as a Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), securing NIH funding through June 2029 and increasing the number of MD/PhD training slots from 16 to 21.
(UNC Newsroom) — The UNC MD/PhD Program received five more years of T32 funding from the NIH/NIGMS as a Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), securing NIH funding through June 2029 and increasing the number of MD/PhD training slots from 16 to 21.
The primary mission of the UNC MD/PhD Program is to train an outstanding group of students committed to becoming physician scientists, capable of bridging the gap between science and clinical medicine, and becoming leaders in academic medicine and scientific health discovery. UNC MD-PhD trainees rank in the top two among U.S. MSTP programs annually for receipt of NIH F30 individual fellowship awards. In addition to the NIH funding, this program is generously supported by the UNC School of Medicine.
The current 94 students in the program (12 new students per year) represent diverse research and clinical interests, with students pursuing their graduate training in 15 departments and 5 curricula representing Schools of Medicine, Public Health, Pharmacy, and the College of Arts and Sciences.
A distinguishing metric of training success of the UNC MD/PhD program is that over the past 25 years, the vast majority of 160 alumni (89%) are employed in academia, research institutes or industry. Several of the alumni are also physician-scientist faculty at UNC.
The UNC MD-PhD Program Leadership Team includes:
- Co-Directors Toni Darville, MD, professor of pediatrics, division chief of pediatric infectious diseases, vice chair for research (Pediatrics), and professor of microbiology and immunology; and Mohanish Deshmukh, PhD, professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology and the UNC Neuroscience Center
- Associate Director, Gaorav Gupta, MD, PhD, associate professor of radiation oncology and co-leader of the Breast Cancer Program in the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Assistant Director, Alison Regan
- Program Manager, Amber Brosius, MSW
- Program Coordinator, Andrew Mara-Williams
