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SUMMER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
INFORMATION & APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Application Deadline: Tuesday, April 1, 2014
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The Parker B. Francis Summer Fellowship Program supports promising undergraduate students for fulltime 8-12 week summer research fellowships with an experienced scientific mentor in an academic
research setting. The goal of the program is to encourage students to pursue careers in research
related to lung disease. Research projects with broad relevance to pulmonary diseases will be
considered. Successful applicants will be students interested in pursuing a career in science or
medicine.
AWARDED FELLOWSHIPS
The PBF Summer Fellowships are funded by the Francis Family Foundation through the University of
Kansas Medical Center Research Institute. Summer fellows will work as temporary student employees
at the University of Kansas. The PBF Summer Fellowship provides a $250/week stipend to the student
for the 8-12 week work/study period. The student is responsible for housing and transportation and is
expected to comply with all University of Kansas laboratory regulations and training requirements. The
mentor is responsible for providing all laboratory supplies for the summer research project. At the
conclusion of the summer fellowship the student will be required to submit a brief final report to the
Parker B. Francis Fellowship Program on their summer research work.
ELIGIBILITY
Applicants must be enrolled in a full-time undergraduate program at the time of application and have:
 a cumulative grade point average > 3.0
 completed college-level introductory courses in chemistry and biology
 plans to pursue a career in medicine or science
PREPARING THE APPLICATION
Application and recommendation forms may be obtained by emailing the PBF Program Administrator,
Deborah Snapp, at dsnapp@uw.edu.
The student will list on their application two faculty members at the University of Kansas who are
conducting research with broad relevance to pulmonary diseases as potential mentors for their summer
fellowship. Attached is a list of potential mentors or the applicant may identify a mentor not on this list
who is a faculty member with an appropriate research program at the University of Kansas. To apply
the applicant must:
1. Submit the application as a single pdf file
2. Submit an official college transcript in a sealed envelope or by email from the institution
3. Submit two confidential recommendations (on the PBF Summer Fellowship Program
recommendation form). These should be submitted directly by the recommender.
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Parker B. Francis Summer Fellowship Program at the University of Kansas
PROGRAM INFORMATION AND APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
IMPORTANT NOTES REGARDING COMPLETING THE APPLICATION


Please carefully follow all instructions for each section of the application.
Please note that the application will not be considered if it:
1. is received after the deadline,
2. is incomplete,
3. does not comply with the format or guidelines for the number of words.
 AFTER COMPLETING THE PBF SUMMER FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION FORM:

Check that your margins are at .5”, text is in single-line spacing, Arial 11-point font

Check to be sure you have not exceeded the specified word limits for each section

Convert the Word application file to a pdf file

Email this single pdf application file to dsnapp@uw.edu

Check back with the individuals writing recommendations to be sure their recommendations were
completed using the PBF Summer Fellowship recommendation form and that they are submitted
prior to the deadline of Tuesday, April 1, 2014 midnight CST.

Check with your institution to be sure your college transcript has been sent.
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
ALL APPLICATION MATERIALS MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN April 1, 2014, midnight CST
 APPLICATION should be emailed as a single pdf file

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT sent directly by the college via email or US mail

TWO CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION on the PBF Summer Fellowship recommendation
form sent directly by the letter writer (preferably emailed pdf file or may be sent by US mail)
Submit materials to: Deborah Snapp, Administrator / PBF Summer Fellowship Program
Email: dsnapp@uw.edu

US mail: 8427 SE 35th Street / Mercer Island, WA 98040
APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS
Applications are reviewed by the Parker B. Francis Fellowship Program Council of Scientific Advisors. A list of
these council members can be found at: http://www.francisfellowships.org/learncouncil.htm
We will notify all applicants of the award decision no later than April 30, 2014.
QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO:
Deborah Snapp, PBF Fellowship Program Administrator, dsnapp@uw.edu, Tel: 206- 462-9224
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2014 Parker B. Francis Summer Fellowship Program at the University of Kansas
MENTORS
Robert C. De Lisle, PhD
Associate Professor, Anatomy & Cell Biology, KU School of Medicine
Email: rdelisle@kumc.edu
I received my PhD from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, in
1984. This was followed by postdoctoral training at the University of
California, San Francisco (Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Fellowship) and at the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I joined the faculty at the University of
Kansas School of Medicine in 1990 (Pew Scholar in the Biomedical
Sciences), and I am currently a tenured associate professor.
All of my career I have been interested in the genetic disease cystic fibrosis
(CF). CF affects the gastrointestinal system, sweat glands, reproductive
system, and the airways, the latter being the major cause of mortality in this
disease. We use a genetically engineered mouse model of CF. The major
phenotype in the CF mouse is intestinal obstruction which also occurs in ~15% of neonatal
humans with CF as well as ~15% of adults with CF. Mucus accumulates in the CF intestines,
fostering bacterial overgrowth and inflammation that perturbs normal gut function. Changes in the
CF intestine are very similar to what happens in the airways of people with CF. Thus, investigation
of the CF intestinal phenotype is also informative for CF airway disease.
Current work in my lab is investigating the effects of CF on the differentiation and function of the
absorptive cell lining the small intestine, the enterocyte. Preliminary data suggest that CF
enterocytes are functionally immature which will contribute to malnutrition which is a major problem
in CF. We are also testing whether interventions we previously showed improve the intestinal CF
phenotype also improve enterocyte maturation and function in nutrition.
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2014 Parker B. Francis Summer Fellowship Program at the University of Kansas
MENTORS
Dr. Navneet Dhillon, PhD
Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care
Email: ndhillon@kumc.edu
Dr. Dhillon’s research interests are focused on unraveling the molecular
pathways involved in HIV-infection associated pulmonary disorders
particularly, vasculature dysfunction associated with cardio-pulmonary
complications. Current research is aimed at: elucidating the underlying
molecular mechanism(s) involved in the augmentation of HIV-protein
related pulmonary smooth muscle hyperplasia in the presence / absence of
illicit drugs; explore the role of growth factors and extracellular matrix
proteins; determine the involvement of anti-proliferative bone
morphogenetic protein receptor axis and its post-transcriptional regulation
and defining the mechanistic pathway(s) responsible for tight junction
protein
disassembly that results in augmentation of HIV-related pulmonary endothelial
dysfunction. Dr. Dhillon’s research is currently supported by funding from National Institute of
Health and American Heart Association. Students will join a post doctorate fellow or a research
technician to work on one of the above mentioned projects and will get hands on experience on
various molecular biology and basic laboratory techniques. Students will also get an opportunity to
observe the catheterization and hemodynamic analysis on an animal model system.
Prakash Neupane, MD
Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology
Email: pneupane@kumc.edu
I am a clinical faculty with focus on lung, head and neck cancers. My interest
is clinical research on lung, head and neck cancer. Currently I am
participating on multi-center clinical trials. I am in process of developing new
clinical trials relevant to head and neck cancer. During the summer, I am
planning a retrospective review on head and neck cancer called “Effects of
Statin on Head and Neck Cancer Survival and Treatment Toxicities.”
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2014 Parker B. Francis Summer Fellowship Program at the University of Kansas
MENTORS
Babalola Faseru MD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
Email: bfaseru@kumc.edu
Dr. Faseru is an Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in the Department of
Preventive Medicine & Public Health (primary) and the Department of Family
Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center. An internationally-trained
physician and epidemiologist, Dr. Faseru’s primary research area is in cancer
prevention and control, with a focus on nicotine dependence and smoking
cessation.
He has research experience in smoking cessation behavioral
treatment, pharmacotherapy, and pharmacokinetics in both clinical and
community-based settings. His broad goal is to unravel the bio-behavioral
mechanisms underlying health disparities due to tobacco use and other
preventable chronic disease risk factors among underserved populations. His
current research is focused on examining behavioral, genetic and environmental determinants of
persistent smoking and smoking-related health disparities among understudied populations such as
ethnic minority populations (African Americans and American Indians) and hospitalized smokers. Dr.
Faseru teaches Principles of Epidemiology and mentors medical, public health and research students
in epidemiology, international health, public health in developing countries and health disparities
research.
Dr. Edward Ellerbeck, MD, MPH
Professor, Chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
Email: eellerbe@kumc.edu
Dr. Ellerbeck is Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine & Public
Health and Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical
Center. He has experience conducting interventional and observational
studies on quality of care in hospitals and primary care practices. Dr.
Ellerbeck developed, implemented and tested a ‘chronic care model’ for
smoking cessation, demonstrating that smokers are willing to make repeated
cessation attempts over a 2-year period of follow-up.
He has also
conducted direct observation of smoking cessation interventions in physician
offices and academic detailing among 300 Kansas primary care physician
offices to improve delivery of preventive services.
Dr. Ellerbeck is Medical Director of “U Kan Quit” at KUMC hospital.
Students would work on projects examining the delivery of smoking cessation
services to hospitalized patients.
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2014 Parker B. Francis Summer Fellowship Program at the University of Kansas
MENTORS
Rajasingh Johnson, M.Phil, Ph.D, HCLD
Assistant Professor in the Cardiovascular Research Institute
Email: rjohnson9@kumc.edu
Rajasingh Johnson, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, received his PhD in
Immunology from Avadh University and SG Postgraduate Institute of Medical
Sciences in India. He did his postdoctoral fellowships at Vanderbilt University
and Tufts University from January 2004 to February 2007. He served as
faculty at Northwestern University and University of Illinois at Chicago from
March 2007 until he joined the University of Kansas Medical Center in May
2011. Dr. Johnson’s research interests include the de-differentiation of
somatic cells by chromatin modifying agents to generate induced pluripotent
(iPS cells) or multipotent stem cells and its therapeutic potential in
regenerative medicines; mechanisms of somatic cell reprogramming by
histone deacetylation and DNA methylation inhibitors; differentiation of
embryonic and adult stem cells and its role in cardiovascular and lung
vascular repair and regeneration. His research also includes the protective role and mechanism of
epigenetic modifiers in mouse sepsis model.
Faris Farassati, PhD, PharmD,
Associate Professor, Divisions of Hematology/Oncology & Gastroenterology
Email: ffarassati@kumc.edu
Dr. Farassati’s Laboratory (the Molecular Medicine Lab) is a translational
cancer research core with a variety of projects available to the students. In a
specific correlation to lung biology, the lab offers following novel and interesting
projects:
 Gene therapy of lung cancer using “Cancer-Smart” viruses capable of
targeting lung cancer cells.
 Targeting Lung Cancer Stem Cells with the purpose of elimination of
their tumor renewal capacity.
 Studying the effects of tobacco on lung stem cells in order to provide
effective preventive strategies.
 Exploring novel signaling pathways in lung cancer in order to design new
gents for treatment of this malignancy.
Dr. Farassati’s lab has trained a number of undergraduate medical students, clinical fellows and
undergraduate students in this field. This lab provides an excellent environment for young minds to
interact with clinicians and scientists in order to learn how future of medical research is highly
invested in a transdisciplinary approach between different teams.
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2014 Parker B. Francis Summer Fellowship Program at the University of Kansas
MENTORS
Kimber P. Richter, PhD, MPH
Professor, Preventive Medicine and Public Health
Email: krichter@kumc.edu
Dr. Richter is director of UkanQuit at KUMed, a bedside tobacco treatment service
for our hospital inpatients, which has served over 5,000 patients since its inception
in 2006. Based on UKanQuit, Dr. Richter leads an NIH-funded study to identify the
best way to link hospitalized smokers with treatment after discharge. She is also
principal investigator of Connect2Quit, an NIH-funded trial on the effectiveness of
real-time internet video counseling for smoking cessation for rural smokers in
Kansas. Her team is currently analyzing data on a national survey conducted
among substance abuse treatment facilities to identify what they do (and don’t do)
to help their clients quit smoking. Dr. Richter is President of the Association for
Medical Education and Research on Substance Abuse and is on the editorial board for the new peerreviewed journal Addiction Science and Clinical Practice.
Steven Q. Simpson, MD
Professor, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
Email: ssimpson3@kumc.edu
Dr. Simpson is Acting Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care
Medicine. His research is focused on the condition of severe sepsis, the most
deadly complication of infection, which kills more than 250,000 people every year
in the United States. He is the founder of the Midwest Critical Care Collaborative
and the Kansas Sepsis Project, both of which have as their main goal, the
implementation of rapid aggressive recognition and treatment of severe sepsis in
hospitals throughout the region. Dr. Simpson is involved in sepsis research on
several different clinical and translational levels. He uses the HERON database,
a repository of clinical information on all KU Hospital inpatients to determine
factors that affect the outcome of severe sepsis. The database contains
information on over 100,000 patients and more than 5,000 patients with severe sepsis, allowing for
robust epidemiological analysis. Dr. Simpson is also involved in prospective studies of hemodynamic
changes in septic patients and how hemodynamic variables can be measured and manipulated noninvasively. Dr. Simpson and colleagues from Kansas State University have developed a mathematical
model for the clinical progression of sepsis and are initiating studies to further validate the model with
collection of clinical specimens and data. Students could find a role in any of these studies.
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