Four UNECOM first year students receive summer research fellowships

Julianna Hoffelder (MS I) and Bridget Foley (MS I) have both been awarded the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) Fellowships.  The 2013 MSTAR Fellowship provides medical students with an enriching experience in aging-related research and geriatrics, with the mentorship of top experts in the field.

Hoffelder will be at the University of Pittsburgh working with Steven Albert, Ph.D., on the assessment of health outcomes in aging, including physical and cognitive function, cost of care, and clinical decision making.

Foley will be working with Dr. Joanne Jordan, M.D., MPH, at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, conducting research in variations in hip morphology and frequency and their impact on osteoarthritis outcomes.

These AFAR Fellows will be at their respective sites for eight weeks this summer. They will be required to present their work nationally at the American Geriatrics Society 2014 Annual Scientific Meeting.

Jaclyn Jankowski (MS I) was awarded the Nth Dimension Orthopaedic Fellowship. After undergoing a stringent and competitive application process and interview, 20 first-year medical students were selected to participate in this eight-week clinical and research internship with orthopaedic surgeons nationwide. The orthopaedic surgeon preceptors are members of varying ethnic and gender minority groups who have been specifically selected because of their teaching and mentoring achievements in the field of orthopaedics.

This is a four-year developmental program that will expose Jankowskil to the field throughout her medical school matriculation Nth Dimension is known to be an allopathic fellowship for woman and minority students, and Jankowski is the second UNECOM woman to attain this fellowship.

Hannah Schreiber (MS I) was awarded the Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addiction (IRETA) Fellowship. The program offers medical student awardees training in the field of addiction treatment and recovery incomparable to any they may have encountered in their prior medical school education or residency experience.

Schreiber is one of 12 awardees nationally and will conduct her fellowship at the IRETA Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for three weeks in July.

Marilyn R. Gugliucci, Ph.D., from the UNECOM Dept of Geriatric Medicine is the home institution research sponsor.