Keck and Saban Summer Research Fellowship
Applications will be accepted for the Keck and Saban Summer Research Fellowships in mid-spring. If you have any questions, please contact fiaba.zakarian@med.usc.edu.
Keck Summer Research Fellowship:
2024 Applications Open! (Due April, 15th)
The Keck Summer Research Fellowship Program awards students up to $2,000 to complete six weeks of full-time research (40 hours per week) during the summer between MSI and MSII. Students are able to work with any faculty mentor; however, students conducting research with a USC faculty mentor will be given priority.
Application instructions will be emailed to all MSI students in early spring.
Award Decisions: Funding decisions will be made by the Medical Student Research Committee.
Saban Summer Research Fellowship:
2024 Applications Open! (Due April, 15th)
The Saban Research Fellowship Program awards students up to $1,500 to complete six weeks of full-time research (40 hours per week) during the summer between MSI and MSII. Students must conduct research with a faculty mentor from the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). Students may use USC Profiles to find mentors in their area of interest at CHLA.
- Applicants who do not receive the Saban Summer Fellowship will be considered for the Keck Summer Research Fellowship.
Application instructions will be emailed to all MSI students in early spring.
Award Decisions: Funding decisions will be made by the Saban Research Institute of CHLA.
For questions about the application process, please contact Fiaba Zakarian at: fiaba.zakarian@med.usc.edu
AΩA Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship
The AΩA Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship provides $6000 for first- and second- year medical students to conduct research either during a continual period of a minimum of 8 to 10 weeks; 30 hours or more per week; or an average of 4 hours per week for 12 months over a period of 1 to 2 years. The research should focus on clinical investigation, basic laboratory research, epidemiology, social science/health services research, leadership, or professionalism.
Please read carefully about the details of this fellowship:
https://www.alphaomegaalpha.org/programs/carolyn-l-kuckein-student-research-fellowship/
Only one candidate from Keck will be nominated. The Keck deadline to submit proposals to Councilors (see website for details) is December 1, 2023. Complete proposals will be reviewed by the Keck AOA Councilor and selection committee. The selected nominee will be notified prior to the AOA submission deadline of January 23, 2024. Please reach out to Dr. Jeffrey Riddell (jriddell@usc.edu) with any questions.
Gehr Family Student Innovator Awards
What: A summer fellowship program for health professional students to develop a mentored health care quality improvement or health services research project on the USC Keck Medical School campus. Students will also receive training in qualitative and quantitative research methods, and meet healthcare leaders in the Los Angeles community who are involved in patient improvement and systems change. We select 8-12 students each summer. Each awardee will receive a $1,500 stipend.
When: The 6 week program will go from June to July. Students must be devoted to the program full time during these weeks. Some preparatory meetings in the months leading up to the program in spring will be required.
Who is Eligible: Students in good academic standing who are enrolled in a graduate level program with a health care interest in at the University of Southern California (e.g. MD, PA, PharmD, PhD, MPH, PT, OT, MPP, MSW, DDS, and engineering).
Program Description: During the 6-week program period, students will develop a project in partnership with a Gehr Center faculty member. Students are encouraged to visit the Gehr Center website (https://gehrcenter.usc.edu/programs/student-innovator/) to see a list of active Center projects. After reviewing the list, students may wish to meet with Gehr faculty regarding specific projects of interest to them. While meeting with Gehr faculty to discuss specific projects is not an application requirement, it may be advantageous to do so. If none of the projects seems like a fit, students may also propose their own project idea. Again, students may wish to meet with Gehr faculty before submitting their application to obtain feedback on their idea.
Consistent with the goals of the Gehr Center, projects should:
- Align with the mission of creating data driven research to improve healthcare and advance health equity
- Result in contributions to science that can be shared through peer-review publication or some other dissemination vehicle
See the Gehr Center website for further details about the Center’s mission: http://gehrcenter.usc.edu/
Mentorship: Each student will be assigned to a Gehr Center faculty member who will serve as their primary mentor for the summer. Students may also receive mentorship from others involved in their project, such as Gehr Affiliates, health system leaders, other faculty members, and community members as appropriate. At least one morning each week during the program period will be devoted to didactics led by Gehr Center faculty. There will also be a series of seminars with healthcare leaders in the Los Angeles community throughout the summer at locations throughout southern California. The rest of the time will be unstructured, allowing students to work on their project and meet with their mentors.
Deliverables and Expectations: Students are expected to participate in didactic sessions with Gehr faculty as well as all seminars throughout the 6-week program. Students should be prepared to commute within Los Angeles for their projects or seminars as required and allowable. At the completion of the program period, each student is responsible for presenting their work. Students are also encouraged to submit abstracts on their work to conferences at USC and externally, as well as to consider writing up their work for peer-review publications, blogs or other forms of media.
Application Process and Timeline: Students should submit their CV and a personal statement describing why they are interested in a Gehr Student Innovator award by March 27, 2022. This personal statement should describe the student’s current research interests, explain how their past experiences have led them to this field, your long term career goals, and describe any clinical practice experiences and/or program implementation experiences. Please also describe your current research skills and include 2-3 SMART goals relating to the research skills you want to further develop during this program. Student will be selected based on the strength of their personal statements, research interests and experiences, and overall fit with the Gehr Center goals. Research experience is not required, but a strong interest in developing skills and producing academic outputs (e.g. posters, manuscripts) will be prioritized.
Project Development: After receiving an award, students will work with their mentors to finalize their plans for the summer. Ideally, students will have selected their project and begin to develop a scope of work before the program start date. There will be an orientation session in late spring after awardees have been selected.
Submission Process: Please compile your application into a single document and order it as follows:
- Cover page with your name and the title of your personal statement
- Personal Statement (1000 words maximum)
- CV
Please submit your application as a single document (either PDF or Word document is ok) to: gehrstudentawards@med.usc.edu. The subject line should be: Gehr Student Innovation Awards.
Questions? You may find additional information about the Gehr Center at http://gehrcenter.usc.edu/ For questions about the application process, please contact Mrs. Alissa Maier at: Alissa.Maier@med.usc.edu
Summer Oncology Research Fellowship
Our NIH-supported Summer Oncology Research Fellowship (SORF) Program is designed for medical students in the summer between their first and second year who are considering a biomedical career that involves cancer research. This research fellowship is held at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California (USC).
SORF immerses medical students in cutting-edge research experiences within a team science framework in oncology and related fields. Students are matched with mentoring teams according to interests and research experience. Research projects are in pediatric, adolescent or adult oncology, in fields of clinical, translational, or laboratory research and/or new frontiers in bioinformatics, biomedical engineering, precision medicine, population-based research, survivorship and other oncology-related fields. Students work on their research project under experienced faculty mentors, visit centers of emerging sciences, participate in social activities, interact with faculty, trainees and cancer survivors, and engage in a dynamic interactive curriculum of selected topics in oncology, career development, research skills, research communication and responsible conduct of research. Students further enhance their skills through scientific reports, posters and oral presentations. Select students may later in the year and are encouraged to present their work at local, national and international conferences and to compile their data into a manuscript for publication. As a testament to the success of the program, many fellows have gone on to have successful academic medical careers involving cancer research and related disciplines.
Students apply online. SORF’s executive committee invites the top 5% to 10% of applicants to the program. Invited students indicate their top five project/mentor choices from a list provided and are paired with one. They then connect with their mentor, read background literature, conceptualize and submit a research proposal prior to the start of the program, and are ready for their project upon arrival. Students from underrepresented minorities are encouraged to apply.
For more information and for the application, please visit the Summer Oncology Research Fellowship website.
Breman Global Health Immersion Fellowship
The Breman Global Health Immersion Fellowship is funded through a generous donation from the Breman family to deepen students’ engagement and approach to addressing health problems in low- and middle-income countries. The fellowship supports students interested in global health and public service careers by funding field, programmatic, clinical or laboratory research.
General Information
- Individual grants up to $5,000 to support work in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
- Funds can be used to cover participant fees, travel expenses, lodging, meals, research activities, and/or personal and liability insurance.
- All arrangements are the responsibility of the grant recipient and must adhere to the approved application proposal.
- Project proposals must involve at least four weeks of time abroad (six weeks preferred).
- Applicants will be selected based on proposal quality, academic performance, evidence of sincere interest in the research proposed and of its utility, the strength of faculty advisor’s reference and the proposal’s ability to support/add to existing research. Please see the application information on the website for details.
Eligibility
- Keck School of Medicine undergraduate, master’s, and professional students are eligible.
- Master of Public Health students and medical students will be given priority consideration.