Program Overview
Biomedical Research
Vanderbilt – A History of Commitment and Success
At Vanderbilt, fostering an environment where every individual feels valued, supported, and empowered to grow is at the core of who we are. We are committed to creating a community with the connections, varied viewpoints, and shared purpose that are necessary to tackle the complexities of an ever-changing world. Over the past seventeen years the Graduate Programs in Biomedical Sciences at Vanderbilt have awarded over 100 Ph.D degrees to students in biomedical research as of Commencement 2018. Leadership today demands more than knowledge and expertise—it requires courage, collaboration, and the ability to bridge divides. Vanderbilt is a university for those who want to lead differently–who recognize that different ideas, perspectives, and experiences are essential to solving the world’s most pressing challenges, and who also believe those challenges are best conquered by working together.
For more than a decade, a central focus of the commitment at Vanderbilt to educating biomedical research workforce has been the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD). The IMSD is a program funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that has been in existence at Vanderbilt since 2000. First developed as a postbacculaurate program, today the IMSD program serves graduate students in medicine who have matriculated at Vanderbilt (an NIH requirement) to ensure their successful completion of the doctoral degree. Currently the IMSD program at Vanderbilt is under the co-direction of Dr. Digna R. Velez Edwards, Dr. Julie Rhoades (Sterling), and Dr. Henrique Serezani. Dr. Digna R. Velez Edwards is a genetic epidemiologist, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, director of the Division of Quantitative Sciences, and director of the Women’s Health Research Center. Dr. Julie Rhoades (Sterling) is an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology and a research scientist. Dr. Henrique Serezani is an associate professor in the Departments of Medicine, Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and Pharmacology and the Associate Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Immunobiology.
The IMSD program provides a holistic admissions route for students entering Vanderbilt biomedical graduate programs, and then extensive and careful mentoring throughout the entire graduate training period from first year to dissertation defense. Up to 90% of Vanderbilt IMSD students successfully compete for external funding during their graduate careers, including prestigious individual fellowships, training grants, and research grant supplements. The attrition rate from this program is extremely low (<5%). Our graduates go on to develop careers in academic research, obtaining positions as postdoctoral fellows at leading research universities around the country, as well as in biopharma and in other areas (public policy, college teaching, etc).