Students Accepted Into NIH Research Programs

May 16, 2016

Two GA-PCOM osteopathic medical students have been accepted into summer research programs sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

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Two osteopathic medical students from Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (GA-PCOM) have recently been accepted into summer research fellowship and internship programs for medical students, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Osamuyi Idubor (DO ’19), DO Council Vice President, Radiology Club Vice President, and a Student Ambassador at GA-PCOM, was accepted into the Yale Summer Research Fellowship, where he will spend 10 weeks conducting research at the George M. O’Brian Kidney Center at Yale over the summer months. Idubor will participate in laboratory-based or clinical research, in addition to informal didactic sessions to learn about the mechanisms underlying normal kidney function and the development of kidney disease related to hypertension.

The student doctor will study under professors and investigators of nephrology Dr. Gary Desir and Dr. Robert Safirstein at the Yale-New Haven Hospital and the VA clinic in New Haven, Connecticut.

“I hope to use this opportunity to develop an understanding of genetic origins and molecular pathophysiology of kidney related diseases, and gain more experience, networking opportunities and mentorship in the field of nephrology,” he said.

Rachel Owusu-Lewis (DO ’19), was accepted into the Diversity In Vision Research and Ophthalmology (DIVRO) summer internship program at the National Eye Institute (NEI) in Bethesda, Maryland.

According to its official webpage, the mission of the NEI is to conduct and support research that helps prevent and treat eye diseases and other vision disorders. The DIVRO program offers each participant the opportunity to work with leading research scientists in the Division of Intramural Research and provides hands-on training in a research environment.

For eight weeks this summer, Owusu-Lewis will intern in the Ophthalmic Molecular Genetics Section at the NEI, which specializes in understanding the genetic basis of inherited ocular diseases. She will be conducting gene sequencing in order to help explain the genetic origin of inherited eye diseases.

“I hope to use this opportunity to develop an understanding of the genetic origins and molecular pathophysiology of inherited eye disease like glaucoma and retinitis pigmentosa and gain further experience in the world of ophthalmology,” she said.