The Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM) at Stony Brook University has secured a five-year, $5.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue its Medical Science Training Program (MSTP). The funding will run through June 30, 2030.
The MSTP was established by the NIH to support students interested in both scientific research and clinical care. The program is designed to help students pursue careers as physician-scientists without being discouraged by medical school debt. NIH funding covers tuition, health insurance, and provides a stipend.
RSOM’s MSTP offers integrated training that leads to both MD and PhD degrees. The program has received continuous NIH funding since 1992 and has expanded over its 44-year history. Additional financial support comes from RSOM itself, trainees’ PhD mentors, and fellowships obtained from the NIH or private foundations.
“The landscape for training students to become the next-generation’s physician-scientists is ever evolving and the program maximizes their education and capabilities during this period of accelerated discovery,” said Michael Frohman, MD, Distinguished SUNY Professor, chair of the Department of Pharmacological Sciences and director of MSTP for the last 22 years. “The key driving force is to instill in them the importance of being able to identify unmet clinical needs and translate research findings based on them into improved medical practice.”
Frohman also noted that graduates typically spend eight years completing the MSTP before entering residency programs as clinicians with strong research skills. Around 150 graduates have completed RSOM’s MSTP so far, going on to work at academic medical centers, federal agencies, and biotechnology companies.
There are currently about 75 students enrolled in the program. With this new grant from NIH, nine new students can be recruited each year. The previous five-year NIH grant awarded in 2020 provided $3.7 million in funding.
