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Vanderbilt Summer Diabetes Research Program

This program provides undergraduate students who are interested in diabetes with the opportunity for a research experience in one of the many laboratories associated with the Vanderbilt Diabetes Center.

The term diabetes refers to a group of diseases characterized by high blood glucose levels that result from defects in the body’s ability to respond to and/or produce insulin. Today 23.6 million children and adults in the United States—7.8% of the population—have diabetes. In addition, in the United States alone 1.6 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older each year. The Vanderbilt Diabetes Center (VDC) is one of the leading centers for diabetes patient care and research in the United States. An important component of the VDC is the NIH-funded Vanderbilt Diabetes Research and Training Center (DRTC)

The DRTC is an interdisciplinary program involving more than 90 faculty members distributed among 18 departments in two schools and four colleges at Vanderbilt and at neighboring Meharry Medical College. One of the key missions of the DRTC is to train new diabetes scientists.  As part of that mission the DRTC funds the Vanderbilt Summer Diabetes Research Program. The primary objective of the Vanderbilt Summer Diabetes Research Program is to provide a substantive research experience that will allow each student to actively participate in a laboratory project including reading the relevant diabetes literature, developing ideas, performing experiments and communicating findings to colleagues.

In addition to VSSA seminars, students will have the opportunity to participate in a seminar series with lectures given by leading diabetes scientists. This seminar series is part of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Student Research Training Program (SRTP).

  • Upon accepting our offer to participate, the Program Director will contact the students to assist with the selection of a suitable mentor with whom they would like to work during the summer. The process of finding a suitable mentor will be completed by late March allowing students the chance to establish communication with the assigned mentor prior to their arrival.
  • Once in the lab, summer students will engage in laboratory experiments using a variety of biomedical techniques and instruments. Students will hone their laboratory skills, collect data, make inferences based on their results, and become very familiar with the nature of scientific inquiry. Students will then present the results of their own independent research projects at the research symposium organized by the VSSA that is held at the end of the summer.

Applications are through the Leadership Alliance. You can read more about the Leadership Alliance at Vanderbilt here.

Benefits

  • The program will provide all research and course-related expenses, housing, travel to and from the program and generous living stipend for the summer. Students are required to participate for the full period of the Program.
  • Information on Vanderbilt summer housing can be found here: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/meetatvanderbilt/academic-intern-housing/
  • Undergraduates work for nine weeks under the guidance of a faculty or research mentor at a participating Alliance institution.
  • Through this one-on-one collaboration students gain theoretical knowledge and practical training in academic research and scientific experimentation.
  • Students also receive assistance with navigating the graduate application process.
  • Students are required to present a written report and/or abstract at the end of their summer research activity and complete a program evaluation.
  • All participants are required to participate in the Leadership Alliance’s annual national symposium and to make an oral or poster presentation of their research. For their conference participation students will receive round-trip travel, free room and board.
  • Housing will be provided at one of the Vanderbilt University campus dormitories. Information on Vanderbilt summer housing can be found here: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/meetatvanderbilt/academic-intern-housing/

Eligibility

  • Applicants must be in good academic standing with a GPA of 3.0 or better.
  • Have completed at least two semesters and have at least one semester remaining of their undergraduate education by the start of the summer program.
  • Demonstrate interest and potential to pursue graduate study toward a PhD or MD-PhD. (Note: The SR-EIP is NOT designed for students pursuing professional training for careers in the practice of law, business administration, clinical medicine, clinical psychology or the allied health professions.)
  • Be a documented US citizen or non-citizen national or permanent resident in possession of an alien registration receipt card (I-551) or other legal document of such status. International citizens studying in the United States with an F-1 visa are not eligible for the SR-EIP. Individuals seeking asylum or refugees are not eligible.
  • Attend full-time an accredited public or private college or university in the U.S. or its territories, as recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
  • Note: Vanderbilt undergraduate students are not eligible to apply to the Vanderbilt SR-EIP; however, they are encouraged to apply to Leadership Alliance SR-EIP programs at other schools.

Application Instructions

  • Applications to the Diabetes Research Program are through the Leadership Alliance. Applications open on November 1. Deadline for submission of application: February 1. 
  • Application for the Program is only through the Leadership Alliance Summer Research-Early Identification Program (SR-EIP) online application.
  • In your essay, you should specifically discuss your interest in diabetes research.
  • The application and submission details can be found here.

Contact

For information about Leadership Alliance

Diabetes Summer Program Director

Diabetes Summer Program Coordinator