Duke Awarded NIH Grant to Prep Students for Grad & Medical Programs

Headshot of Johnna Frierson, PhD
Johnna Frierson, PhD

Duke has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a one-year postbaccalaureate program for students interested in pursuing a PhD or MD/PhD in the biomedical sciences and basic sciences. The $1.2 million, five-year grant establishes the Duke Preparing Research Scholars in Biomedical Sciences Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PRIME-PREP), which will provide an immersive paid research experience for students from backgrounds historically underrepresented in science and medicine. 

Duke PRIME-PREP will begin in July 2023 with seven scholars. Over 12 months, the scholars will gain lab experience, receive professional development, and have the opportunity to be mentored by Duke researchers from all sciences, both within Duke University School of Medicine and Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. The program will also provide funding for travel to conferences.  

Applications for Duke PRIME-PREP are now open. The deadline to apply is Feb. 17. The program is open to students from any university, including Duke. Applicants must have earned a baccalaureate degree in the biomedical or behavioral sciences within the last 36 months and must belong to underrepresented groups in these sciences as defined by the National Institutes of Health. 

The aim of the program is to prepare scholars to apply to graduate programs or medical school. “The main benefit to the students is the program gives them time to pause before going into a PhD or MD/PhD program and gain insight into what's necessary to be successful, to strengthen any skills in areas where there is room for growth and development, and to be connected with research mentors,” said Johnna Frierson, PhD. 

Frierson is one of three co-principal investigators of the program who will also serve as mentors. The other co-principal investigators are Gerard Blobe, MD, PhD, and Micah Luftig, PhD.

Headshot of Gerard Blobe, MD, PhD
Gerard Blobe, MD, PhD

Blobe added that the program helps address a lack of diversity in the biomedical sciences. “We're lacking in diversity of our pipeline,” said Blobe, a professor of medicine and pharmacology and cancer biology. “The PRIME-PREP program helps individuals who clearly have the potential to succeed in graduate school, but just don't have the depth of experience.”  

According to Blobe the program will also give students time to determine if they want to pursue a degree in the biomedical sciences “as well as offer extra preparation to make sure that they're going to be competitive, both in terms of application and in terms of completing their graduate program.” 

Duke PRIME-PREP will also offer a sense of belonging, which can be especially meaningful for students from historically underrepresented groups, Frierson said. 

“That affirmation of their abilities, affirmation of belonging, and their potential in the scientific community is a really important component of retention, and continuing to advance in training,” said Frierson, who also is associate dean of equity, diversity, and inclusion for the basic sciences. 

The opportunity to gain experience conducting research is a particularly attractive aspect of the program.  

“Every year a lot of our graduate programs get applications from individuals who are clearly bright but have not necessarily had the research experience opportunities,” Blobe said. “We provide them an in-depth mentored research experience in a biomedical field of their choosing.” 

Headshot of Micah Luftig, PhD
Micah Luftig, PhD

Luftig said the program will give the students ample time to deeply explore their research interests, which isn’t always easy to achieve during undergraduate studies.  

“They will have many opportunities to learn from their peers, faculty mentors, and lab mates what basic research is like and develop their own ideas about the path that they want to take in research going forward,” said Luftig, an associate professor of molecular genetics and microbiology. “The program is structured in a way that gives them enough time to really explore and develop those ideas.” 

Leaders of the PRIME-PREP program hope the program will increase applicants to graduate and professional programs at Duke and beyond, ultimately increasing the number of scientists and leaders in STEM fields. 

“It's an opportunity to us to contribute more broadly to helping to develop and nurture scientists from underrepresented backgrounds,” Frierson said. “Hopefully they come here. But even if they don't, we're contributing to the greater good.”

Apply to the Duke PRIME-PREP program

This article originally appeared on the Duke University School of Medicine website.

Related News

Three images of different people posing
THE GRADUATE Monica Bodd, MD, MTS, with her primary Duke Surgery mentor DCI head & neck surgical oncologist Dan Rocke, MD (first image, far right) and clinic staff; at her MD Graduation with Associate Dean for Student Affairs Aimee Chung, MD (her advisory dean); and with her proud parents on graduation day.

Lessons from Duke: Centering the Patient Experience & a Role for Theology

Monica Bodd thinks a lot about the patient experience and how to make it better — both through research and clinical practice. While earning her MD and her Masters of Theological Studies degrees at Duke, she learned from some of the best, including Thomas LeBlanc, MD, MA, MHS, Dan Rocke, MD, JD, and Walter Lee, MD, MHS, from Duke Cancer Institute, and from the Duke Divinity School, Warren Kinghorn MD, ThD, Sarah Barton OT, ThD,Susan Eastman, MDiv, PhD, and Kate Bowler, PhD. Patient experience research in oncology is an investigation of common issues faced by people with cancer, including symptom burden, quality of life, and psychological distress, as well as how patients understand their prognosis and make decisions about their treatment through the various stages of their disease. “The way I explain it to my friends or to my family, it’s about asking patients how they live and work through their diagnoses on a day-to-day basis, centering their perspective over the perspective of a medical record or a diagnosis or a doctor's words,” said Bodd. “There are validated and quantitative aspects to it, but it’s more about what we wouldn't necessarily capture with our big data and metrics… I believe it’s the redeeming hope for a lot of medicine.” As Bodd was leaving Duke to begin her residency in Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at Stanford Medicine this past spring, she spoke with DCI about some of the unique projects she got to work on and co-lead as a medical student and theology student — and the wisdom and practices she’s carrying forward in her medical career from both disciplines.

Angelo Moore headshot, with colleagues, and in Army uniform

Moore Named a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing

Angelo Moore, PhD, MSN, RN, NE-BC, director of the DCI Community Outreach, Engagement, and Equity program Office of Health Equity, has been named a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). Moore, along with four other nurses at Duke, is among 253 new fellows selected from across 40 states, the District of Columbia, and 13 countries. Beyond one's achievements within the nursing profession, fellows are recognized for "engaging with health leaders nationally and globally to improve health and achieve health equity by impacting policy through nursing leadership, innovation, and science." As a U.S. Army Non-Commissioned Officer, Moore served during three Gulf War campaigns. After subsequently attending, then graduating from Winston-Salem State University, he joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. All told, he served more than 25 years on active duty in multiple leadership roles from Germany to Hawaii — earning several service medals, commendation medals, service ribbons, and three bronze service stars. During this time Moore also completed a master’s degree and a doctorate degree in nursing. Moore retired from the U.S. Army in 2015 as a Lieutenant Colonel, but his service continued in civilian life with his commitment to serve historically underserved communities in the U.S. Moore joined DCI in May 2019. He oversees, coordinates, and helps design DCI's community impact-projects to reduce disparities in cancer outcomes for patients across North Carolina and beyond. ⇒LEARN MORE about OHE's latest projects ⇒ Read this 2020 profile of Moore: "In Service to Others: On the Battlefield & In the Community." The Academy will induct the new class of fellows during its annual Health Policy Conference in October. With this honor comes the Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing "FAAN" credential. The other Duke inductees are: Mariam Kayle, PhD, RN, CCNs ; Mitchell Knisely, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, PMGT-BC;Staci Reynolds, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, CCRN, CNRN, SCRN, CPHQ; Ryan Shaw, PhD, RN, ACHIP.