School of Medicine

Department of Physiology

T35 Medical Student Alcohol Research Internship

The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse of Alcoholism T35AA021097 Medical Student Alcohol Research Internship provides research opportunities for medical students in basic science or translational research. The 8-week summer program works to cultivate students' interest in pursuing medical and research careers. Interns are matched with mentors involved in alcohol research.

Students learn laboratory and clinical research techniques used in medical research. Required seminars are on topics such as responsible conduct in research and professional development, including how to prepare and present their research results and how to write an abstract.  All of the summer interns present their research results at the annual Medical Student Research Symposium which is routinely held in the fall semester. Students who wish to continue conducting research project throughout their academic education may apply to the Honors Program.

Application

Applications are due by 5:00PM on March 1st.
Applicants will be notified by mid-March.

MENTORS

The following faculty members participate as mentors in the T35 summer internship program, and welcome medical school student involvement in their alcohol-related research.

Faculty Mentor

Research Focus

Department

Amedee, Angela

HIV transmission and disease progression using the SIV-infected rhesus macaque model, as well as HIV-infected patient cohorts. Focus on viral kinetics.

Microbiology, Immunology, & Parasitology

Edwards, Scott

Investigation of neurobiological changes associated with altered motivational systems in drug and alcohol dependence; neuronal signaling following excessive drug or alcohol use, and neuroadaptations involved in driving excessive drug intake in rodents.

Physiology

Ferguson, Tekeda

Chronic disease epidemiology - biopsychosocial approach to understanding the influence of environmental and social determinants that impact alcohol use and chronic comorbidities in persons living with HIV.

Epidemiology

Gilpin, Nicholas

Addiction; alcohol dependence and the neurobiology of stress-induced escalation of alcohol intake in rodents.

Physiology

Maiya, Rajani

Molecular mechanisms that underlie alcohol use disorder (AUD); focus on experience-dependent changes in gene expression are mobilized into neuroadaptive changes that underlie the development of alcohol addiction in rodents.

Physiology

Molina, Patricia

Interaction of at-risk alcohol abuse with HIV/SIV disease & risk for comorbidities in rhesus macaques and persons living with HIV. Intersection of alcohol with neurobehavioral outcomes of traumatic brain injury in rodents.

Physiology

Primeaux, Stefany

Role of alcohol consumption on diet quality, dietary intake, and food preferences; benefits of exercise on metabolic comorbidities in individuals with at-risk alcohol use.

Physiology

Ronis, Martin

Alcohol effects on bone turnover and liver disease in rodent models and cell-based systems.

Pharmacology

Salling, Michael

Neurobiology of alcohol and addiction, focus on electrophysiology in rodent models.

Cell Biology & Anatomy

Siggins, Robert

Impact of alcohol on immunosenescence and activation induced cell death in rhesus macaques and persons living with HIV. Cell based assays.

Physiology

Simon Peter, Liz

Epigenomic mechanisms that impair cell function contributing to dysregulated repair, regeneration, and metabolic function of skeletal muscle. Impact of alcohol on pancreatic endocrine function adipose tissue homeostasis in tissues from SIV-infected rhesus macaques. 

Physiology

Souza-Smith, Flavia

Effects of alcohol on lymphatic permeability, mechanisms involved in leak and cross-talk with peri lymphatic adipose tissue.

Physiology

Welsh, David

Impact of alcohol and HIV on the biology of aging, focus on resident microbial communities and immunosenescence in persons living with HIV.

Internal Medicine/Pulmonary Critical Care

Wills, Tiffany

Neuroadaptations that occur in alcohol dependence, particularly those produced by adolescent alcohol use in rodents.

Cell Biology & Anatomy

Program Director:
Patricia Molina, MD, PhD
Richard Ashman, PhD, Professor &
Department Head of Physiology
Director, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center of Excellence
pmolin@lsuhsc.edu           

Administrative Program Coordinator:
Melissa Prestwood
mpres3@lsuhsc.edu
Phone: (504)568-6178

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
School of Medicine
Department of Physiology
2020 Gravier Street, Room 734
New Orleans, LA 70112