Medical Students at the Vanguard of Advancing Science, Education, and Clinical Care

Jowan Watson, a fourth-year student in Harvard Medical School’s Pathways MD program, developed a first-of-its-kind residency curriculum in sports psychiatry. Jenny Rowley, a fifth-year Pathways MD student, was on a team that made what she believes are the first images of the immune system using a PET scan.

Endeavors like these — whether they are the scholarly projects required of all MD students or additional work done during their time at HMS — give medical students the opportunity to explore research early in their training.

With a breadth of faculty in the 11 basic and social science departments at HMS and an abundance of clinical specialties at its 15 affiliated hospitals, students are likely to find a mentor in any area where they are interested in advancing science and medicine or improving patient care.

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“For MD students, doing this kind of project is an opportunity for them to go deep into researching something they care about,” said Jeffrey Katz, director of scholarly engagement at HMS.

Students presented this year’s projects at the 85th annual Soma Weiss Student Research Day on March 18 in the Tosteson Medical Education Center. Four students gave oral presentations and 63 presented posters.

Some aimed to improve or save lives by examining diseases at the molecular and cellular level, investigating clinical interventions, or conducting statistical or machine-learning analyses. Some looked to improve medical education. Others examined the history of race and medicine or analyzed the health impacts of federal employment nondiscrimination policies on sexual minority people.

Research teaches students a different kind of problem solving than seeing patients does, said Patricia D’Amore, chair of the faculty committee on scholarship in medicine at HMS. It also enriches clinical reasoning, she said.

“When they begin their clinical practice, the background in research will help them look beyond the symptom and consider the mechanism for a particular pathology,” she said.

Harvard Medicine News spoke with students about their research experience, what it means to them and their careers as doctors, and what it might mean for the future of medicine and the health of their patients.

Harvard Medicine News: What is the value of doing a scholarly research project as an MD student?

Bryan Peacker: It’s been amazing to actually have the chance to be involved in studies like the ones that we learn about all the time that influence the way that we practice medicine.

Christy Zheng: This project taught me a lot about applying all the skills, like data analysis, that we learn in the classroom setting to real-world clinical data. We’re also lucky to have the research time built into our curriculum here at HMS.

Christopher Robinson: Being able to do research teaches you how to read research better. As a physician you are constantly using evidence-based medicine. So doing research helps you develop the skills to be able to interpret research.

Keegan Mendez: The exposure to research brings us closer to the translational side of things and allows us to speak the language of those who are primarily researchers. I think when I can bring my medical experience and expertise, and they can bring their research background and experience, ultimately, it creates more innovation and better outcomes for patients.

HMNews: How do you hope this experience will affect how you practice medicine and what you bring to your patients?

Jowan Watson: I think scholarly research helps in the relationship with patients, in being able to explain the evidence we have for the medications we prescribe for them and aligning that with the hopes that the patients have.

Samuel Steuart: Doing this research will directly affect the quality of care that I’m able to give and hopefully be the doctor that they would like to come to see. Especially if they’ve seen other doctors and not gotten an answer, then maybe I can be the one who can say, ‘From my research experience, here’s what I think might be going on for you.’

Aliya Shabbir: To start a project from the get-go has taught me to think broadly about what types of questions matter most to our patients and what questions can help me influence how they think about what treatment options they have and what we can do as physicians to help them.

HMNews: What was the most exciting or surprising thing about doing your project?

Peacker: One of the things that struck me was how easy it was to collaborate with people from different fields. My main mentor is a dermatologist, but we looked at patients who have stem cell transplants. We reached out to transplant oncologists to get feedback on our project. They gave us advice, and we were able to make our own contributions from the skin side. It was so easy and so fast. That’s something that I really didn’t expect.

Robinson: Some of the statistical outcomes that you get surprise you and then you have to question whether you did the statistics correctly or whether it’s an association that’s new and different and unexpected.

One piece of my project that was particularly challenging was dealing with ‘missingness’ in the social determinants of health survey responses and trying to figure out how to address the missingness not being random. This concept was new to me and was surprisingly challenging to deal with.

Keegan Mendez: I got to collaborate with some industry partners. It was exciting to see how industry approaches research. Their approach to the problem that we were trying to address was different from those of the researchers and the PI and from clinicians. They added new perspective, which I thought was interesting.

Athena Apfel: One of the most exciting and impactful things for me is how incredibly welcoming everyone was in Rwanda, where I did my research. Everyone welcomed me with warm hearts and open arms, took me under their wing, and were willing to answer any questions I had. They showed me how health care worked in Rwanda. They showed me more about their culture.

Steuart: I feel such a strong sense of community through this research that I’m doing — the way that my PI and research advisor made me feel seen, heard, respected, and valued. It makes it feel like home to have people who really care about me and nurturing my mind and making me more of a critical thinker. So, the most important part of the whole thing for me is the community that it builds, the empowerment that I’ve gotten from them.

Soma Weiss Research Day Honors and Poster Prizes

Elizabeth D. Hay Prize for Basic Science Research

• Catherine Hua, Developing a biological alternative to prosthetic elbows

Judah Folkman Prize for Clinical/Translational Science Research

• Lynn Bi & Katelyn Li, Identifying predictors of immunotherapy response and resistance in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer
• Runner up: Samia Ismail, Xylazine wound care among PWUD accessing Massachusetts syringe service programs

Charles Janeway Prize for International Research or Service

• Ryan Benavente, Characterization of Guam’s physician workforce: Current and historical trends
• Runner up: Emily Powis, Exploring the roots of pediatric chronic osteomyelitis in Malawi: Uncovering factors contributing to vulnerability and late diagnosis

Leon Eisenberg Prize for Medicine in Society Research

• Kushal Kadakia, FDA Authorization of therapeutic devices under the breakthrough devices program, 2016-2024
• Runner up: Michael Liu, Employment nondiscrimination protection and mental health among sexual minority adults: A difference-in-differences analysis

Martin Prince Award for Student Innovation

• Jean Filo, Development of the first software for the autonomous detection and morphological characterization of intracranial aneurisms
• Jenny Rowley, Imaging the immune system: A robust, non-invasive tool for imaging inflammation