Two NEOMED medical students were selected to participate in a prestigious summer clinical research program.
Second-year students Hayat Mohammed and William Danh Tran joined other medical students from across the country as part of the fifth cohort of the Robert A. Winn Clinical Investigator Pathway Program (Winn CIPP). The program identifies future physician-investigators committed to advancing community-engaged clinical research and improving participation in clinical trials.
The students participated in a six-week summer experience of immersive training, mentorship and hands-on experiences. The program was held at 18 partnering research institutions in the U.S. from June 1 through July 11.
William was placed at Fred Hutch Cancer Center in his hometown of Seattle, Washington. He worked on a trial testing the use of treosulfan, a well-used compound in the EU but not the U.S., as a bone marrow conditioning agent for stem cell transplantation in patients with rare bone marrow disorders. “The crux of the trial is in expanding therapy options for patients with rare bone marrow disorders, because it’s very difficult to study these patients due to their rarity, and as a result there aren’t a lot of validated treatment regimens for them,” he noted.
The opportunity to apply came as he was seeking opportunities to explore his interest in oncology and expose himself to clinical research.
“In addition to learning about the foundations of clinical trial work, I was able to conduct a scoping literature review on community engagement methods in rare disease research, further expanding my understanding of clinical research,” he said.
Hayat applied for the Winn CIPP opportunity after hearing about it in NEOMED’s newsletter. She placed at the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Her project focused on the impact of ethnicity and socioeconomic status on advanced prostate cancer at presentation.
Her experience at Emory helped her develop skills beyond the classroom.
“I hope to build clinical research skills I can carry with me throughout my medical career and eventually use those skills to help the communities that need them most,” she said.
She was honored to be selected as part of the Winn CIPP cohort.
“I feel fortunate to work alongside some of the brightest minds in clinical research on a topic this important,” she shared. “Getting to learn from and collaborate with my peers has also been one of the best parts of the experience.”
William echoed her sentiment.
“I’m incredibly honored to have been a part of this program and to have represented NEOMED at the national level,” he said. “Overall, I left this program with a clearer understanding of oncology. The field is full of brilliant experts who are not just passionate about patient care but tirelessly collaborating with each other to ensure patients have the best possible outcomes. It’s a beautiful field that I want to become a part of someday.”