Meet the New PSTP Associate College Advisors
Meet the New Stahlman-Thomas PSTP Associate College Advisors
Get to know a little bit more about the new Stahlman-Thomas PSTP Associate College Advisors!
Katy Eby Beckermann, M.D., Ph.D.
What residency/fellowship program and year are you in?
I am in my last year of the Internal Medicine research track, finishing a medical oncology fellowship.
How did you first become interested in research?
During a summer undergraduate research experience, I learned how much fun research was and what it could mean for patient care.
Where did you go to medical school, and what brought you to Vanderbilt?
I received my MD and PhD at Vanderbilt. I came to Vandy because I thought the mentors were amazing, and that proved to be true!
What are your ultimate career goals?
I plan to look for a career in academic medicine where I can conduct research that informs the design of early phase clinical trials in oncology.
What advice do you have for current MSTP students?
Do what you love! This is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s the inspiration and love for your research that keeps you going at mile 25!
What is one "fun fact" about yourself?
Maybe you can tell from the response above, but I like to run, especially with my three golden retrievers!
Matthew Vogt, M.D., Ph.D.
What residency/fellowship program and year are you in?
I entered the Pediatric Infectious Diseases fellowship in July 2016.
How did you first become interested in research?
Mad scientist had always been on my differential for careers growing up, but after reading The Hot Zone by Richard Preston (about a near miss with Ebola in the U.S.) in the eighth grade, I became enamored with viruses. I suppose this makes me an Ebola hipster.
Where did you go to medical school, and what brought you to Vanderbilt?
My MD/PhD degrees were obtained at Washington University in St. Louis, where I worked with Mike Diamond studying antibodies that bound to West Nile virus and how they worked. From there, I did my Pediatrics residency in Boston in the Boston Combined Residency Program of Boston Children’s Hospital and Boston Medical Center. There my interests remained viral, but honed in on respiratory picornaviruses, mainly because I developed a distaste for bronchiolitis and would like for it to go away. My interviews for fellowship let me to my current research mentor, Jim Crowe, who shares with me an idea that, if at all possible, scientific studies should be done on or in humans, and that we haven’t done enough to study the common childhood illnesses of the world.
What are your ultimate career goals?
The annihilation of bronchiolitis.
What unique perspective do you bring to physician-scientist training?
At the moment, I am told that pediatricians are underrepresented among the various program advisors, so I bring that to the table. Also, I was raised in a family that had no scientists or doctors of any sort who I could model my life after, so I have needed to learn a lot about lifestyle and mental approach on my own. Of course, by on my own I mean through a vast array of mentors, both peer and superior, just none in my family.
What advice do you have for current MSTP students?
Remember that in science batting .300 is astronomical and probably unattainable. Do not get bogged down by little failures. There are no failures, just learning opportunities.
What is one "fun fact" about yourself?
While I am not a hardcore birdwatcher, since moving to Nashville I have become captivated by the birds at my birdfeeders and in the large trees of my yard. Watching them is both peaceful and fascinating.