Basic Science Scholarly Option:

The major goal of the Basic Science Option is to provide committed medical students with a mentored basic research experience. This scholarly experience is expected to cultivate scholarly habits of inquiry and exploration. The basic science scholarly option will be for those students that wish to conduct basic bench or applied research. Students with previous basic research experience are strongly encouraged.

First, the student is expected to identify a scholarly mentor in an area of interest. The mentor should be a faculty at WSU or their affiliated institutions. The scholarly project is expected to be longitudinal across the student's curriculum. The mentor along with the student will be expected to develop an individualized project, establish time lines for completion as well as the expectations of the final product.

This mentored experience is expected to enhance the student's ability to formulate a hypothesis, analyze scientific literature, gain skills in research design and develop a stronger understanding and use of statistical methods. It is anticipated that students who are educated in a research environment are stimulated to seek a deeper understanding of health and disease, making them better physicians.

Clinical Research Scholarly Option:

The Clinical Research Scholarly Option is designed for students that wish to conduct scholarly activities in a clinical setting that utilizes clinical patients or patient's records. The clinical research scholarly option will be for those students that wish to conduct clinical research where interacting with humans or medical records are the focused interest. Students with previous clinical research experience are strongly encouraged.

First, the student is expected to identify a scholarly mentor in an area of interest. The mentor should be a faculty at WSU or their affiliated institutions. The scholarly project is expected to be longitudinal across the student's curriculum. The mentor along with the student will be expected to develop an individualized project, establish time lines for completion as well as the expectations of the final product.

This mentored experience is expected to enhance the student's ability to formulate a hypothesis, analyze scientific literature, gain skills in research design and develop a stronger understanding and use of statistical methods. It is anticipated that students who are educated in a scholarly environment are stimulated to seek a deeper understanding of health and disease, making them better physicians.

Information Session Recording from January 21
Passcode: pPR0n*.&

Find a research mentor!

Area Directors

Joe Dunbar, Ph.D.
ad4730@wayne.edu

When my lab was involved in research, we were interested in the endocrine mechanisms associated with diabetes mellitus and its complications. Diabetes or insulin insufficiency is characterized by changes in nutrient metabolism as well as chronic alterations in multiple physiological systems. Cardiovascular changes and hypertension are characteristic of diabetes and are the basis for the major complications of diabetes such as increased risk of heart attack, vascular dysfunction, and stroke. Since obesity is strongly associated with diabetes we also investigated the role of insulin and adipose tissue hormones in the central nervous system (CNS)-mediated regulation of cardiovascular responses. We investigated the hypothalamic factors mediating the leptin signaling cascade pathway. We have evaluated the interaction of the proopiomelanocortin system (POMC) and its major products aMSH and beta-endorphin and their receptors in this process. We conducted studies on the mechanism of action of insulin and leptin in the regulation of blood flow dynamics. We also conducted studies to evaluate the peripheral actions of these hormones contrasted to their actions mediated at the level of the central nervous system (CNS). It was our working hypothesis that many of the chronic pathologies associated with diabetes are mediated by alterations in the central nervous regulatory mechanisms that lead to the diabetic complications. We have demonstrated that insulin and leptin-mediated hormones can affect cardiovascular dynamics at the CNS level, and that these regulatory responses are altered in diabetes. We also had studies on the influence of diabetes on CNS neuronal apoptosis and the response to ischemia. We observed that diabetes is associated with a basal increase in apoptosis and this process is made worse by ischemia. We investigated the role of insulin and IGF-1 in this process and studied the mechanisms involved in this process.