School of Medicine

L2 Student Benjamin Bonner Receives Prestigious Sarnoff Fellowship in Cardiology

Second-year medical student Benjamin Bonner has been awarded a prestigious Sarnoff Fellowship in Cardiology. The Sarnoff Fellowship Program offers medical students the opportunity to spend a year conducting intensive work in a biomedical research facility in the United States.

Bonner said that the research side of medicine has always appealed to him and was part of the reason he applied for the fellowship. 

“I had the opportunity to work in the labs of Dr. Andrew Hollenbach, Dr. Carmen Canavier, and Dr. Sonia Gasparini through Dr. Tsien and the Science Youth Initiative during the summers of my college freshman and sophomore years,” he said.

Bonner described those experiences as rewarding and said that he wants to keep a research focus within his future career in medicine.

“This fellowship is particularly attractive because it allows me to take a year off from school and really focus on research,” he said. “I know I want research to be part of my career, but that can look like different things. This will help me clarify what that can look like.”

“I am very grateful to all the LSU School of Medicine faculty who supported me through this process,” he added. “Dr. Kurt Varner sponsored me, and all the faculty who were part of the Summer Youth Initiative provided formative experiences.”

Sarnoff Fellows select a Fellowship laboratory, together with input from their Sarnoff advisor and his sponsor, Dr. Varner. He anticipates working in the lab later this summer.

Fellows are selected on the basis of a national competition. According to the website, Sarnoff seeks individuals with demonstrated intellectual and academic achievement, as well as leadership ability. Fellows receive an annual stipend, moving expenses, health insurance and funds for travel to present a paper at two national conferences. Fellows also attend the Sarnoff Annual Scientific Meeting and American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.