Summer Assistantship
Faculty Sponsor List
Summer 2011
Below is a list of Brown faculty who have expressed an interest in working with medical students this summer. We urge
you to contact them early in your application process to discuss potential collaborations. Please note that that you are not
limited to faculty on this list – you may identify other faculty mentors independently.
All Summer Assistantship application materials must be submitted electronically as email attachments to
Laura_McDonald@brown.edu no later than February 23, 2012.
Faculty Member
Paul P. Christopher, MD
Department of Psychiatry & Human
Behavior
345 Blackstone Blvd.,
Butler Hospital
Ph: (401) 455-6356,
paul_christopher@brown.edu
James Padbury, MD
Professor of Pediatrics and
Perinatal Biology
Vice Chair for Research,
Department of Pediatrics
The Warren Alpert Medical School
of Brown University
Pediatrician-In-Chief
Women & Infant's Hospital of
Rhode Island
Program Director, COBRE for
Perinatal Biology
Director, Center for Clinical and
Translational Sciences
101 Dudley St.
Providence, RI 02905
Ofc: 401 274-1122,x7405 or x7407
Email: jpadbury@wihri.org
Zoltan Derdak M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
(Research)
Liver Research Center of Rhode
Island Hospital
55 Claverick St, 4th Floor
Providence, RI, 02903
tel.: 401-444-2536
Project
“ U.S. legal statutes on the
involuntary treatment of substance
use disorders.” This project will
examine how different states
approach the issue of involuntary
treatment for substance abuse in
their legal statutes. During the
elective, the student will have the
opportunity to participate in the
following aspects of the projects,
depending on his/her interest:
collection and analysis of data,
conference presentation, and
manuscript writing.
“A Novel Bioinformatics and
Genomics Approach to Perinatal
Diseases.” Preterm delivery and
preeclampsia are the leading
causes of maternal and newborn
morbidity and mortality. We are
employing a Pathway Analysis
based approach whereby we are
curating the medical literature,
public data bases and archives of
expression and genetic data for
genes with demonstrated
relationship to preterm labor and
preeclampsia. Curation teams will
meet weekly at the Kilguss
Research Institute. Students will
also be trained in patient
enrollment.
“ The role of p53 in the
pathogenesis of alcoholic and nonalcoholic liver disease”
Recent observations from our
laboratory suggest that the
transcriptional factor p53 has an
important role in the pathogenesis
of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic
fatty liver disease. Based on new
Student
Requirements/
Restrictions
Student should be
interested in
understanding the
legal and ethical
issues around
mandatory treatment
of addictions.
Non SA
Funding
No external
funding. Student
should apply for
SA.
Familiarity with the
lexicon of Perinatal
Medicine will be
crucial in
understanding the
medical literature and
enhance the students
understanding of the
implications of the
research project.
No external
funding. Student
should apply for
SA.
Interest in molecular
biology and
biochemistry. Longterm plans with
research is an
advantage.
No external
funding. Student
should apply for
SA.
cell:401-497-5530
email: Zoltan_Derdak@brown.edu
Martin A Weinstock
Professor of Dermatology and
Epidemiology
Office located at the V A Medical
Center
Ph:401-457-3333
maw@brown.edu
Joseph Rabatin, MD
Assistant Professor (Clinical) of
Medicine
Memorial Hospital of RI
joseph_rabatin@mhri.org
data
from our group, it seems that p53
orchestrates not only apoptosis and
oxidative stress but also metabolic
changes in these diseases. In the
context of alcoholic liver disease
(ALD) we demonstrated that p53
activates downstream targets that
are directly involved in the
regulation of hepatic insulin
signaling and glucose metabolism.
These metabolically active
downstream targets may promote
hepatic insulin resistance in ALD. In
non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
(NAFLD), p53 seems to contribute
to hepatic triglyceride accumulation
(steatosis) by suppressing SIRT1,
which is a master regulator of
hepatic fatty acid metabolism.
Chemical inhibition
of the transcriptional activity of p53
improved insulin resistance and
steatosis in ALD and NAFLD,
respectively. Summer students who
are interested in this research topic
would perform in vitro experiments
to characterize changes in glucose
and fatty acid metabolism in
hepatocytes that have been treated
with ethanol or various fatty acids in
the presence or absence of a p53
inhibitor (or inhibitors against p53
downstream targets) to further
elucidate those molecular pathways
that link p53 to cellular metabolism.
The Dermatoepidemiology Unit
focuses on research involving
cutaneous malignancies and
dysplasias and teledermatology
from an epidemiology/public health
perspective. Summer projects
typically involve analyses of
datasets using software such as
STATA, or sometimes collection of
new data from the field relevant to
the issues mentioned above.
 Primary Care research for
motivational interviewing
smoking interventions at
Memorial Hospital of RI. A pilot
study to see if doctors in
training can be more effective in
helping their patients quit
smoking.
 Qualitative analysis of doctorpatient interactions to
determine the extent to which a
doctor is “patient centered”
using validated interviews for
patients after the visit.
 Difficult patient research to
No specific
requirements, ability
to use the STATA
program is necessary
if the project will
involve data analysis.
No specific
requirements
No external
funding. Student
should apply for
SA.
Michelle Forcier MD MPH
Department of Pediatrics, Division
of Adolescent Medicine
Adolescent Health Center
Suite 355 Coro
West Providence RI 02903
Cell phone 401-256-0920
Clinic 401-444-5980
mforcier@lifespan.org
Barbara S. Stonestreet, M.D.
Department of Pediatrics
Women & Infants Hospital of RI
101 Dudley Street
Providence, RI 02905
Phone: (401) 274-1122 x7429
consider how difficult
encounters are measurable
different from non-difficult
encounters from a National
research group led by Dr. Mark
Linzer called MEMO.
 Volunteering experiences as
predictors of primary care
careers: a national survey
“Transgender Health:
Improving Patient Outcomes by
Improving Health Education &
Opportunities for Care”
The medical student will work in the
clinic setting to develop patient,
parent, and provider education
materials designed to improve the
health and well being of pediatric
patients who are gender variant.
The student will interact with
patients, families, residents, and
transgender advocates in order to
craft materials such as: a “road map
for care,” for the assessment and
medical management of
transgender youth ages 2-25;
patient information and consent for
initiating and maintaining cross
gender hormones; patient materials
regarding cross gender prosthetics
and body care; and a referral list for
medical, surgical, and mental health
providers with gender expertise.
Hypoxic-ischemic brain injury is the
single most important neurologic
problem in the perinatal period. In
utero hemodynamic abnormalities
possibly in association with
elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines
(cytokines) such as IL-1β, IL-6, and
TNF-α predispose to brain injury,
particularly in premature
neonates… Our specific aims test
the hypothesis that specific
cytokines cross both the intact and
injured BBB in the fetus to damage
the brain. A consequence of this
hypothesis is that blockade of these
cytokines would attenuate the
ischemia related damage to the
neurovascular unit (BBB) and
possibly the brain. A
multidisciplinary approach will be
used to address our hypothesis and
will include physiological,
biochemical, pathological,
immunohistochemical, and
molecular method…These studies
will provide the first direct evidence
whether systemic cytokines cross
the intact or injured fetal BBB and
The qualifications
and previous
experience of the
ideal student for the
project would include
some experience with
printing and graphics
programs in order to
design teen friendly
education materials;
some experience or
interest in patient
education and
communication; and
an open minded
perspective and
interest in sexual
health and gender
variance for youth in
RI.
No external
funding. Student
should apply for
SA.
We prefer the
students that are at
least in their second
year with biology or
neuroscience
courses.
No external
funding. Student
should apply for
SA.
Laura Levine, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor,
Department of Psychiatry and
Human Behavior
VA Medical Center
830 Chalkstone Ave
Providence, RI 02908
Laura_Levine@brown.edu
Ph: 401-273-7100 ext 3878
Sheryl Kopel, MSc
Project Director, Childhood Asthma
Research Program | RIH
Research Associate, DPHB | Brown
Medical School
1 Hoppin Street, Suite 204
Providence, RI 02903
Sheryl_Kopel@brown.edu
(401)444-7217
(401)793-8749 (fax)
Cesario Bianchi
Associate Prof of Surgery
(Research)
Department of Surgery
1 Hoppin Street
Coro west room 5-229
Providence RI 02903
Tel: 401-7938221
Cbianchi1@lifespan.org or
Cesario_bianchi@brown.edu
whether blocking the effects of
cytokines with neutralizing
antibodies protect the fetal
neurovascular unit (BBB) and brain.
This project may provide new
insights into novel strategies to
prevent brain injury in the human
fetus and/or premature infant.
*Contact Laura McDonald for a
more detailed project description.
I am seeking a medical student to
work with me in the opiate
treatment program at the VA
Hospital. The position involves
creating and implementing a
creative health education curriculum
for a traditionally underserved and
high risk population.
The medical student would observe
and assist with data collection for
an ongoing study of health and
school outcomes in urban children
with asthma and healthy controls.
With the mentorship of the
principal investigator and project
director, the student would develop
a research topic to be examined
with data from the study. Previous
summer fellows have presented the
results of their fellowship work at
scientific conferences.
Title: Dietary effects on
pharmacogenomics.
- The long-term objective is to
determine to which extent dietary
regimens occurring in the general
population can affect the cardiac
actions (as measured primarily by
cardiac gene expression profiling)
of common prescribed/over-thecounter drugs.
-The project will be divided into two
components:
1- Systemic review of the literature
on the effect of diets on drug
actions ( expected to have very few
publications in this category)
2- Cardiac gene profiling analyses
of two experimental models to
determine the interactions between
chronic low and high fat diets on
the pharma-cogenomic of two
completely distinct drugs.
-The result of this project will
determine the feasibility of more
comprehensive projects addressing
the impact of common diet regimen
adopted by the general population
on the cardiac effect of widely
prescribed drugs and/or over-thecounter medications.
The student should
have an interest in
harm reduction,
methadone
maintenance, as well
as infectious
disease. No
experience is
necessary.
Previous experience
working with children
and parents;
familiarity with
asthma; English and
Spanish fluency
(Spanish fluency is
an advantage, not a
requirement);
research experience
or completion of
research methods
class
No previous
qualifications
required but some
wet bench and/or
bibliographic search
and bioinformatic
training desirable.
No external
funding. Student
should apply for
SA.
No external
funding. Student
should apply for
SA.
Not able to
provide full
funding but
willing to apply
for short-term
studentship at
private
foundations like
AHA.
Katherine M. Sharkey, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Departments of Medicine and
Psychiatry & Human Behavior
EP Bradley Hospital Sleep and
Chronobiology Laboratory
300 Duncan Drive
Providence, RI 02906
tel: 401-421-9440
fax: 401-453-3578
Katherine_sharkey@brown.edu
Peter D. Kramer, MD
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and
Human Behavior
196 Waterman Street, Providence,
RI 02906
401-421-1250
pdk@brown.edu
Brian Chow, MD (Fellow)
Division of Pediatric Infectious
Diseases, Hasbro Children’s
Hospital
593 Eddy St. Building 018
(401) 444-8360
bchow@lifespan.org
Joseph Bliss, MD, PhD
Department of Pediatrics
Women & Infants Hospital
101 Plain St, 7th Floor
(401) 272-1122 x 7484
We are conducting a prospective
study of the effects of sleep and
genetics on mood during the
perinatal period. Participants are
women with a history of a mood
disorder (major depressive disorder
or bipolar disorder) who are studied
during pregnancy and in the
postpartum period. Sleep is
recorded for one week using wrist
actigraphy at several time points
during the perinatal period.
Participants provide DNA samples
for genotyping and saliva samples
for circadian phase assessment
with melatonin. The student would
participate in home visits with
participants, recruiting participants,
and scoring sleep data.
The student would do research
analyzing data from trials testing the
efficacy antidepressants in the
treatment of depression. I have a
special interest in early studies of
the oldest medications, data from
the 1950s-1970s. Much of the later
evidence is weighed in contrast to
the early evidence. How reliable is
that data? How complete is it? The
project would involve both locating
and assembling the data (which will
take time) and analyzing it (the
lesser task). If the student wants
more complexity, there is also
ample data for more recently
introduced medications and ample
attendant controversy. There are
also interesting theoretical issues—
how much effect constitutes
effectiveness?
Title: Colonization of neonates with
Candida parapsilosis
This is a prospective study
examining rates of colonization of
neonates with Candida
parapsilosis, a major cause of lateonset sepsis in neonates. We are
exploring known risk factors for
invasive candidiasis in neonates, as
well as novel risk factors, including
breast milk exposure and blood
product transfusions. The student
may be involved in recruiting
patients and/or labwork.
Previous experience
in sleep research or
women's health
would be ideal.
Funding through
the lab may be
available but
student should
still apply for SA
funding.
The student would
need basic skills in
statistics and in
running statistics
packages -- although,
the more advanced
the skills, the better.
Good interpersonal
skills, for interacting
by phone and email
with other
researchers around
the country, would
also be useful. There
may be opportunities
for the student to
learn more statistical
techniques from other
colleagues.
No external
funding. Student
should apply for
SA.
There are no specific
qualifications or
experience needed
for this project. The
student should feel
comfortable
approaching parents
of infants for
enrollment in a
respectful and
professional manner.
If the student desires
to work in the
laboratory, there
should be an
understanding of lab
safety, and be willing
to learn basic
microbiologic
techniques for
culturing and
identification of
At this time,
funding is not
available for this
project. Grants
have been
submitted, so this
may change. It is
recommended
that interested
students also
apply for a
Summer
Assistantship
Edward S. Sternick, PhD
Medical Physicist-in-Chief
Department of Radiation Oncology
Rhode Island Hospital
593 Eddy Street, Providence, RI
02903
Tel: 401-444-3198 Cell: 401-2652537
Email: esternick@lifespan.org
Paul Greenberg, MD
Clinical Associate Professor of
Surgery (Ophthalmology)
Paul_Greenberg@brown.edu
(401)273-7100 ext 1500
(561)789-7723
Wen-Chih (Hank) Wu
Bio Med Administration
Wen-Chih_Wu@brown.edu
(401)273-7100
(401)826-1784
Implementing Mobile Platform
Technology to Support Radiation
Oncology Performance Excellence:
The objective of this project is the
design and clinical implementation
of an innovative approach to
minimize the incidence of
radiotherapy adverse events that
could potentially have negative
impacts on patient safety. Error
prevention applications are being
developed for a mobile smartphone
and tablet to provide legally
compliant “anytime-anywhere”
transmission of checklists,
anatomical images and rapid
information exchange to validate
CT-simulator scans, computerbased treatment planning data and
treatment delivery setups. By
employing comprehensive quality
management tools potential errors
can be detected by the mobile
platform and prevented before
treatments are initiated.
Little is known about the amount of
student publications generated as a
result of participation in the Brown
Summer Assistantship (SA) or
Summer Research Assistantship
(SRA) programs (before 2008) from
2001-2010. Given the amount of
funding spent in student summer
research programs, it would be
important to determine the return--in
terms of publications--from the
investment into these programs.
This project aims to determine the
frequency of success, defined as
student authorship or co-authorship
in the publication of an article
reporting the results of the SA/SRA
sponsored project in an indexed
peer-reviewed journal, and also to
determine the predictors of medical
student publication following
participation in a funded summer
research program. The project will
be a retrospective review of medical
student, faculty mentor, and project
characteristics from the Brown
SA/SRA programs. Descriptive
analyses and cross-tablulations will
be performed quantifying the
primary outcome per covariate and
overall.
organisms. After a
period of training, the
student will be
expected to work
relatively
independently.
The student should
be comfortable with
and knowledgeable
about the creation
and utilization of
mobile platform apps
in general and
preferably will have
gained some
understanding of
radiation oncology
practice by
enrollment in
Radiation Oncology
Elective (Rad Onc640).
Students interested in
medical education.
SUMMER
ASSISTANTSHIP
FUNDING
($3500): May be
available for a
qualified
applicant.
No external
funding. Student
should apply for
SA.
Wentian Yang, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Orthopaedics and
COBRE Center for Stem Cell
Biology
1 Hoppin Street, Providence, RI
Tel: 401-4445956
Email: wentian_yang@brown.edu
Jennifer G. Clarke, MD MPH
Director of Health Disparities
Research
Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island
Associate Professor of Medicine
and OB/GYN
Brown University
111 Brewster Street, CPCP 2nd
floor
Pawtucket, RI 02860
jennifer_clarke@mhri.org
Katerina Tsiapali, MD, FACS
The Breast Health Center, One
Blackstone Place, Providence, RI
02905
Phone #: 4014130011
Etsiapali@wihri.org
Tara L. White, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Center for Alcohol & Addiction
Studies
Brown University
Box G-S121-4
121 S. Main St.
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: +1 401 863-6625
Fax: +1 401 863-6647
E-mail: Tara_White@Brown.edu
Characterizing the tissue stem cells
for cartilage development: A subproject is available to study the
biology of tissue stem cells residing
in perichondrium. We recently
identified a unique stem cell
population residing in epiphyseal
cartilage and perichondrium.
Therefore , biochemical and
transgenic approaches will be taken
to further understand how the
proliferation and chondrogenic
differentiation of these cells are
regulated during joint development
and cartilage repair,
Three possible projects conducted
in the women’s prison focusing on
1) STD prevention, 2) smoking
cessation and 3) teaching moment
Previous experiences
for tissue culture and
transgenic animal
handling are
preferred.
All applicants are
encouraged to
apply for Summer
Assistantship
(SA). I would be
happy to help on
the proposal
preparation.
A strong drive to help
the poor and
underserved.
No external
funding. Student
should apply for
SA.
The study is focusing on fertility
preservation options for young
women diagnosed with breast
cancer and young BRCA (+)
patients. It consists of
questionnaires administered to the
patients examining whether fertility
preservation options were offered to
these patients at the time of
diagnosis and potential barriers in
accessing the pertinent services.
Demographic and disease specific
data will also be extracted from the
charts.
Title: fMRI investigation of emotion
and drug effects.
Description: investigation of alcohol
effects on functional brain response
to emotional stimuli, in the context
of concurrent HIV infection and
drinking history
No specific previous
experience/qualificati
ons are required.
No external
funding. Student
should apply for
SA.
prior research
experience with
human subjects
unix, data processing
No external
funding. Student
should apply for
SA.