The Department of Medicine is sponsoring a program designed to provide mentored research training to graduates of Internal Medicine and its subspecialties programs with the goal of developing a pipeline of academicians with interest in clinical and translational research in Internal Medicine and its subspecialties. Upon completion of the program the graduates will develop skillset, publication track, and ideally extramural funding to launch their academic careers as clinical and translational investigators at UConn.

The program’s duration is one year, with the option of renewal for an additional year. Participants will be employed at the rank of Instructor, and only individuals with Connecticut Medical License and DEA registration able to practice independently will be admitted to the program. Participants in the program will contribute to the clinical efforts of the Department of Medicine by working in clinical areas for a maximum of 0.4 c FTE.

Participants in the Rising Scholars program will need to identify their area of interest and primary mentor at the time of application, and develop an independent line of research to be completed by the end of the program. Throughout the program’s participation, participants are expected to regularly (bi-monthly) present their progress to their primary mentor, the faculty in the Rising Scholars Program, and their peers. The primary mentor is expected to provide support for the mentee’s research program. In rare and selected occasions, the Department of Medicine can support part of the expenses related to consumables, assays etc.

The recruitment of Rising Scholars will be conducted nationally, and the enrollment will be ongoing, although ideally the program should coincide with the academic calendar, i.e., starting on July 1. Mentors are members of the Department of Medicine, and the participation of faculty of other Departments/Schools is encouraged. The participation is voluntary, but mentors are expected to participate regularly in the Rising Scholars presentations and to be active in the applications selection process. 

 

Division	PI/Mentor	Research Projects
Administration	Francesco Celi	Basic/Translational: Tumor microenvironment and cancer-associated cachexia Clinical: Thyroid hormone replacement in subclinical hypothyroidism Metabolic effects of shift work
Endocrinology	Andy Arnold	Tumor genetics of hyperparathyroidism
Endocrinology	Ernesto Canalis	Project 1: Understanding the role of NOTCH3 function in the pathogenesis of Lateral Meningocele Syndrome (LMS), a devastating disease characterized by meningoceles, craniofacial developmental abnormalities and bone loss, and to develop specific antisense technology to treat its skeletal manifestations. Project 2: Characterizing novel functions of the NOTCH2 extracellular domain and the skeletal manifestations of diseases associated with a newly discovered NOTCH2 mutation that causes non classical osteogenesis imperfecta. Project 3: Understanding the mechanisms and develop specific antisense technology to treat the skeletal manifestations of Hajdu Cheney Syndrome, a devastating disease characterized by developmental abnormalities, acroosteolysis and bone loss with fractures. These are NIH funded translational research projects that involve the use of genetically modified mice as well as in vitro cellular models to explore mechanisms at the cellular and molecular level. The PI has funds to support successful projects for presentation and publication.
Endocrinology	Ben Tendler	NANETS Thy Ca UConn may have (by 2024) a Pheo Para Alliance spot designation thanks to the multi-specialty contributions.
Endocrinology	Carl Malchoff	Co-mentor in the broad areas of adrenal disorders, adrenal tumors, and thyroid cancer
Center for Molecular Oncology	Daniel Rosenberg	Translational research on GI cancers
Nephrology	Yanlin Wang	Chronic kidney disease Hypertension Inflammation Renal fibrosis Epigenetics
Nephrology	Dong Zhou	Acute kidney injury