Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR)
Students enrolled in the MSTAR program benefit from an enriching experience in aging-related research and geriatrics with the mentorship of top experts in the field.
Participation in the program has led many physicians-in-training to pursue academic careers in aging, ranging from basic science to clinical and health sciences research. The long-term goal of the program is to increase the number of established physician investigators and clinicians who pursue research in high-priority areas related to aging.
This 8-week, multi-site program is open to first-year medical students interested in aging research and in good academic standing. Sites included in the program are:
- UTHealth Houston
- UT Health San Antonio
- UTMB Health
- UT Southwestern
Requirements
Candidates: 1st-year medical students interested in aging research
Duration: Intensive 8 weeks over Summer and following Winter breaks
Stipends: $4,704 total for 8 weeks ($2,352/month)
Project PI: Holly Holmes, MD, MS
Trainees gain:
- an individualized research experience under a sponsoring mentor
- a structured didactic experience that is directly linked to student research projects
- opportunities to interact with potential role models and peers efforts to build a sense of identity and membership for participants
- a positive and rewarding experience in aging research
- a chance to obtain research credits for their participation
Expectations: During the summer and winter experience, trainees are expected to spend the majority of their time at UT Health San Antonio on their research project, attend weekly meetings, where didactic applications and career issues are discussed, and attend local geriatrics seminars. They also attend kickoff and capstone group sessions.
Faculty Mentors
| Mentor | Rank | Department | Area of Research |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ronald Acierno, PhD | Professor | Behavioral Sciences, MMS | Psychotherapy, PTSD, Depression, Elder Abuse |
| Jason Burnett, PhD | Associate Professor | Internal Medicine-Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, MMS | Elder abuse, self-neglect, social connection |
| Michael B Cannell, PhD, MPH | Associate Professor | Internal Medicine-Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, MMS | Elder mistreatment, disability, data science |
| Maria E. Fernandez, PhD | Professor | Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health | Cancer; chronic disease; Dissemination and implementation research; health disparities; health communication and technology in health education; implementation mapping; community-based participatory research; multi-level interventions |
| Sunyang Fu, PhD, MHI | Associate Professor | Clinical and Health Informatics, McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics | Clinical Natural Language Processing, EHR data quality |
| Dana Giza, MD | Assistant Professor | Internal Medicine-Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, MMS | Geriatric Oncology |
| Melba Hernandez-Tejada, PhD, DHA | Assistant Professor | Behavioral Sciences, MMS | Mental health, elder mistreatment, aging, PTSD, depression, treatment outcomes, integration of treatments |
| Holly Holmes, MD, MS | Associate Professor | Internal Medicine-Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, MMS | Polypharmacy, Deprescribing, Geriatric Pharmacoepidemiology |
| Rachel Jantea, MD, MS | Assistant Professor | Internal Medicine-Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, MMS | |
| Xiaoqian Jiang, PhD | Professor | Health Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics | Data privacy and security, AI and deep learning, EHR, cancer informatics, Alzheimer’s disease |
| Yejin Kim, PhD | Professor | Health Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics | Machine learning, Artificial Intelligence |
| Mikhail Kolonin, PhD | Professor | Institute for Molecular Medicine | Aging, metabolism, obesity, cancer |
| Min Ji Kwak, MD, MS, DrPH | Assistant Professor | Internal Medicine-Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, MMS | Geriatric Cardiology, Epidemiology, Health Services Research, Cardiology |
| Jessica Lee, MD, MS | Associate Professor | Internal Medicine-Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, MMS | Frailty, homebound older adults, clinical trials, nutrition/exercise, technology, social determinants of health |
| Aanand Naik, MD | Professor | Internal Medicine & Management, Policy and Community Health, School of Public Health | Patient-centered health system interventions to improve multi-morbid older adults’ health outcomes |
| Andrew Pickering, PhD | Associate Professor | Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, MMS | Role of proteasome system in aging and age-related diseases, modulation of protein translation in lifespan, mitochondrial thioredoxin system as an aging regulator |
| Carolyn Pickering, PhD, MSN, BSN | Professor | Department of Research, Cizik School of Nursing | Family Caregiving, Elder Mistreatment, ADRD symptom management |
| Nahid Rianon, MBBS, DrPH | Professor | Internal Medicine-Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, MMS | Bone health |
| Rafael Samper-Ternent, MD, PhD | Associate Professor | Management, Policy and Community Health, School of Public Health | Cultural adaptation of evidence-based interventions to reduce health disparities among older Hispanics with multimorbidity and dementia |
| Vanessa Schick, PhD | Associate Professor | Management, Policy and Community Health, School of Public Health | Community engaged research with historically disenfranchised communities including those with experiences of homelessness and justice involvement and intersections with sexual and gender minority populations. |
| Victoria Tang, MD, MAS | Associate Professor | Internal Medicine-Geriatric and Palliative Medicine, MMS | Geriatric Surgical Care, Geriatric Mental Health |
| Alexander Testa, PhD | Assistant Professor | Department of Management, Policy and Community Health, School of Public Health | Consequences of incarceration and violent exposure for healthy aging |