Please join us in congratulating former NULSTP predoctoral trainee Samuel E. Weinberg, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Pathology, who has been awarded the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists. This is a prestigious award given to early career physician-scientists to bridge advanced postdoctoral and fellowship training and the early years of faculty service.
Read more here: Northwestern Resident Wins Prestigious Burroughs Award for Medical Scientists.
NULSTP postdoctoral trainee Alexandra McQuattie Hanrahan, MD, was recently profiled in the Starzl Academy Trainee Stories. She talks about being a mom and a physician scientist and how Feinberg supports her development through the Starzl Academy Physician Scientist Training Program.
Meet former NULSTP trainee Manuel Torres Acosta, a student the PhD portion of the Feinberg School of Medicine’s Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), and get an inside look at a typical day during this phase of his medical school career.
The long-term goal of the Northwestern University Lung Sciences Training Program (NULSTP) is to encourage bright, enthusiastic, well-trained, academically oriented MDs and PhDs to pursue a career in pulmonary biology investigation. The trainees supported by our training grant focus their research efforts on the cellular and molecular pathophysiology of lung disease and the translation of these findings to the bedside. Trainees are provided with the scientific environment, didactic training, and career development mentorship required to initiate a successful career in research. The training fosters an environment for the acquisition of scientific skills, collaborative interactions, and critical thinking required to pursue careers in pulmonary and critical care investigation.
The Training Program in Lung Science is now in its second decade of successfully supporting and training a new generation of pre- and postdoctoral fellows who will focus their research efforts on lung science. Of the predoctoral candidates supported by the award since 2004, 77% remain in academia, and 94% are involved research-intensive or research-related careers or training. Similarly, of the postdoctoral fellows supported by the award since 2004, 83% remain in academia, and 93% remain in research-intensive or research-related careers. This success is attributable to the talented trainees we are fortunate to recruit to our program and the diverse, accomplished, and highly collaborative group of mentors with whom they train.
Karen M. Ridge, PhD
Program Director
Jacob I. Sznajder, MD
Program Director
We are currently accepting applications for the Training Program in Lung Science for predoctoral and postdoctoral positions. To apply, please send a recommendation letter from your mentor, your CV, and a short cover letter describing your research activities and interest to pulmonary@northwestern.edu with the subject line: Training Program Applicant. The deadline to apply is six months prior to when you would like funding to begin.
All candidates for the Northwestern University Lung Sciences Training Program must meet NRSA citizenship and support requirements:
For more information on NRSA eligibility requirements, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement on Kirschstein-NRSA grants.
The Northwestern University Lung Sciences Training Program has funding to support three predoctoral trainees. Predoctoral trainees from the following programs are eligible to apply:
All predoctoral applicants should have completed their rotations and required coursework and passed their qualifying examinations.
The Northwestern University Lung Sciences Training Program has funding to support five postdoctoral trainees. Applicants should be recent PhD postdoctoral fellows with at least one year of training or MD physicians in our fellowship program with at least two years of training in clinical pulmonary and critical care medicine, who aspire to pursue an academic career and have conducted research with one of the mentors of the NULSTP.
We are currently accepting applications for the Training Program in Lung Science for predoctoral and postdoctoral positions. To apply, please send a recommendation letter from your mentor, your CV, and a short cover letter describing your research activities and interest to pulmonary@northwestern.edu with the subject line: Training Program Applicant. The deadline to apply is six months prior to when you would like funding to begin.
Meet current trainees and learn more about their research projects. All trainee publications may be viewed on PubMed.
Mentor: Karen M. Ridge, PhD
McKenzie Fulcer’s research focuses on mechanisms of lung repair and recovery following viral infection. Influenza A virus infection damages type II alveolar epithelial (AT2) cells, leading to accumulation of mitochondrial DNA and subsequent activation of the cGAS-STING pathway to induce type I interferons and inflammatory cytokines. It is known that overactivation of this pathway leads to inflammatory diseases and that patients who develop idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis show increased levels cGAS-STING activation. However, the role played by AT2 cells in overactivation of the innate immune response after viral clearance and its impacts on alveolar repair is unclear. To shed more light on this pathway, in the laboratory of Karen M. Ridge, PhD, Fulcer is investigating cGAS-STING activation and immune response of AT2 cells following viral infection and clearance.
Selected Publications:
Mentor: Navdeep S. Chandel, PhD
Alec Koss’s research interests are centered on mitochondrial function as a key regulator of skeletal muscle physiology and pathology. Crosstalk between the skeletal muscle and immune systems has been described in various physiological processes, ranging from influenza virus induction of skeletal muscle wasting to resident macrophage necessity for skeletal muscle repair following injury. However, further investigation is required to fully understand the implications of this crosstalk, especially in the context of exercise and states involving skeletal muscle inflammation. These processes share a common phenotype of altered metabolism relative to the basal state. To study the metabolic mechanisms underlying human disease and aging, Koss has joined the laboratory of Navdeep S. Chandel, PhD.
Selected Publications:
Mentor: Karen M. Ridge, PhD
Tatiana Ortiz Serrano’s research explores modulation of the cellular immune response to influenza A virus (IAV) infection by the intermediate filament protein vimentin. Preliminary data suggest vimentin-null mice are protected from IAV-induced lung injury without compromising recruitment of monocyte-derived alveolar macrophages (MoAMs), viral replication, or viral clearance; and that vimentin-null MoAMs exhibit a dampened inflammatory response and enhanced pro-repair function. Ortiz Serrano hypothesizes that modulation of vimentin expression in MoAMs alters their pro-inflammatory phenotype, promoting lung repair after viral pneumonia. To test this hypothesis, in the laboratory of Karen M. Ridge, PhD, she will implement a MoAM-specific genetic lineage tracing system and inducible vimentin deletion strategy in a murine model of IAV pneumonia.
Selected Publications:
Mentor: Benjamin D. Singer, MD
DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) and UHRF1, a DNMT adapter protein, mediate and maintain DNA methylation patterns in regulatory T cells (Tregs). Transient loss of DNMT activity or UHRF1 enhances the reparative phenotype of Tregs by increasing generation of the epithelial growth factor ligand AREG. Carla Patricia Reyes Flores hypothesizes that UHRF1 represses Treg reparative function and that Tregs require AREG to exert their reparative function during recovery from influenza in aged hosts. To test this hypothesis, in the laboratory of Benjamin D. Singer, MD, she is determining whether transient genetic deletion of the Uhrf1 gene in aged Tregs during recovery from influenza pneumonia is sufficient to restore pro-repair transcriptional and functional programs, and whether Treg-derived AREG is necessary for Treg reparative function in aged mice.
Selected Publications:
Mentors: Manu Jain, MD, and Alexander V. Misharin, MD, PhD
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a progressive, mutlisystem genetic disease affecting ~40,000 people in the United States. Despite CF being a largely monogenetic condition caused by mutations in the CFTR gene, there is high variability in clinical trajectories, from early morbidity and mortality to relatively mild disease and survival into old age. Thaddius Cybulski, MD, PhD, is interested in using computational techniques to understand factors that lead to these highly variable clinical trajectories. His current work with Manu Jain, MD, and Alexander V. Misharin, MD, PhD, is focused on characterizing changes in minimally invasive samples of nasal epithelium from people with CF using single-cell transcriptomics. Cybulski is also interested in using machine learning techniques and clinical/electronic health record data to identify predictors of clinical trajectories in CF.
Selected Publications:
Mentor: Douglas E. Vaughan, MD
As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds it is important to study lung function during aging. Advanced age is the most important risk factor for severe lung disease. Strategies targeting aging are key to preserve lung function. Alexandra Hanrahan, MD, is interested in aging research and under the mentorship of Douglas E. Vaughan, MD, is studying the effect of PAI-1 haploinsufficiency on pulmonary structure and function. It has been documented in the literature that dysregulated PAI-1 is a critical contributor in stress-induced murine lung aging pathologies including sustained inflammation, senescence, emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis, and vascular thrombosis. She plans to investigate PAI-1 deficiency and/or pharmacological inhibition of PAI-1 in preventing stress-induced lung aging pathologies.
Selected Publications:
Mentors: Karen M. Ridge, PhD, and Bria Coates, MD
Viral pneumonia disproportionately affects young children and can progress to life-threatening disease. Observations suggest an inadequate T cell response contributes to impaired recovery relative to adults. Andrew Prigge, MD, is determining the role of regulatory T cells (Tregs) during recovery from viral pneumonia in children using a juvenile mouse model developed in the laboratory of Karen M. Ridge, PhD. In parallel, Prigge collaborates with Bria Coates, MD, to examine the nasal transcriptional response to viral infection in children. They recently demonstrated age-related differences in expression of genes involved in T cell receptor signaling in children and adults with asymptomatic to mild SARS-CoV-2 infection. They also found an association between cilia-related gene expression and clinical outcomes in children with critical respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis.
Selected Publications:
Mentor: Navdeep S. Chandel, PhD
Ataxia-telangiectasia (AT) is a premature aging disorder that dramatically increases the risk of chronic lung disease, respiratory infections, and cancer. Most individuals with AT die of one of these conditions by age 30. The disease is caused by mutations in the ATM gene, which encodes a bifunctional protein that responds to DNA damage and oxidative stress by distinct mechanisms. It is unclear which AT-related pathologies are due to impaired DNA damage response and which are due to impaired oxidative stress response. In the laboratory of Navdeep S. Chandel, PhD, Zachary Sebo, PhD, is generating a new mouse model of AT that allows for the uncoupling of DNA damage and oxidative stress responses by ATM in a tissue-specific manner, to determine how lung disease manifests in AT.
Selected Publications:
A strength of the NULSTP faculty is the extent to which they collaborate. As shown below, most NULSTP faculty mentors have had meaningful academic interactions with each other in the form of co-authorship in the past 5 years. Many of these collaborations have been stimulated by interactions between our NULSTP trainees.
Special thanks to Mao Soulakis and the Research Assessment and Communications Department of the Galter Health Sciences Library for generating these data and creating this visual.
Hiam Abdala-Valencia, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care)
Research Interest: Application of next-generation sequencing technology and integrative “wet” lab approaches to basic and translational research of lung diseases
Training Role: Preceptor
Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Research Interest: VEGF and Notch signaling in altering endothelial barrier function; mechanisms driving these pathways and their effect on vascular resilience during stress, including aging and COVID-19
Training Role: Preceptor
Kelly E. Bachta, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases)
Research Interest: In vivo infection dynamics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa using next-generation sequencing and animal models, better understanding of antimicrobial resistance in P. aeruginosa
Training Role: Preceptor In-Training
Ankit Bharat, MBBS
Professor of Surgery (Thoracic Surgery) and Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care)
Research Interest: Lung preservation, transplant immunology, and airway biology; molecular mechanisms used by nonclassical monocytes retained in the donor lung in mediating primary graft dysfunction
Training Role: Preceptor
Rosemary Braun, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor of Molecular Biosciences
Research Interest: Computational biology; development of methods for integrative, systems-level analysis of high-dimensional *omic “big” data, and the collaborative application of these methods to investigate the genomic causes of disease
Training Role: Preceptor
G. R. Scott Budinger, MD
Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care) and Cell and Developmental Biology
Research Interest: Acute respiratory failure, aging, and viral pneumonia; mechanisms driving changes in lung proteostasis resulting in altered innate immune response in alveolar macrophages during injury and repair
Training Role: Associate Program Director of Recruitment, Career Development, and Retention; Preceptor
Mercedes Carnethon, PhD
Professor of Preventative Medicine (Epidemiology) and Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care)
Research Interest: Cardiovascular disease epidemiology
Training Role: Preceptor
Navdeep S. Chandel, PhD
Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care) and Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Research Interest: Mitochondria as signaling organelles
Training Role: Preceptor
Bria Marielle Coates, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Critical Care)
Research Interest: Differences in the inflammatory response to viral respiratory infections in children and adults
Training Role: Preceptor
Laura Dada, PhD
Research Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care)
Research Interest: Acute lung injury, alveolar epithelial cell biology, effect of hypoxia and hypercapnia on lung function, and ubiquitination in lung disease
Training Role: Preceptor
Stephanie C. Eisenbarth, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine (Allergy and Immunology) and Pathology
Research Interest: How dendritic cells, B cells, and T cells interact to induce tailored adaptive immune responses in the spleen, lung, and gut
Training Role: Preceptor
Khalilah Latrece Gates, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care) and Medical Education
Research Interest: Pulmonary infections, COPD, asthma, and sepsis; UME critical care education, strategies for creating inclusive educational and clinical environments
Training Role: Preceptor
Cara J. Gottardi, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care) and Cell and Developmental Biology
Research Interest: Molecular mechanisms of cell-cell adhesion regulation required for normal tissue morphogenesis; how alterations in cell adhesion complexes drive disease states such as cancer, fibrosis, and asthma
Training Role: Preceptor
SeungHye Han, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care)
Research Interest: Molecular mechanisms of mitochondrial metabolism and cellular metabolism that affect lung epithelial stem cell function and fate, in the context of lung development and lung repair after injury
Training Role: Preceptor In-Training
Erica Hartmann, PhD
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research Interest: Understanding at the molecular level how microbial communities respond to anthropogenic chemicals and using that information to control the spread of undesirable traits such as antibiotic resistance
Training Role: Preceptor
Alan R. Hauser, MD, PhD
Professor of Microbiology-Immunology and Medicine (Infectious Diseases)
Research Interest: Pathogenesis of healthcare-associated bacterial pathogens
Training Role: Preceptor
Curt Horvath, PhD
Professor of Molecular Biosciences
Research Interest: Signal transduction and gene expression in mammalian cells
Training Role: Preceptor
Judd F. Hultquist, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) and Microbiology-Immunology
Research Interest: Development and adaptation of high-throughput, quantitative, systems-based approaches for use in primary models of disease to better understand the host-pathogen relationship
Training Role: Preceptor
Manu Jain, MD
Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care) and Pediatrics
Research Interest: Respiratory diseases, cytokines, lungs and breathing problems—ARDS, sepsis, and cystic fibrosis—bacterial genotypic and phenotypic diversity, and mechanisms of fibrosis in lung disease
Training Role: Preceptor
Ravi Kalhan, MD, MS
Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care) and Preventative Medicine (Epidemiology)
Research Interest: Asthma, COPD, and respiratory epidemiology; understanding impaired respiratory health as an intermediate phenotype that precedes chronic lung disease
Training Role: Associate Program Director of Curriculum Development and Evaluation, Preceptor
Alexander V. Misharin, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care)
Research Interest: Macrophage biology in the context of lung diseases
Training Role: Preceptor
Luisa Morales-Nebreda, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care)
Research Interest: Intercellular signaling pathways between immune cell subsets and the injured alveolar endothelium that promote tissue repair
Training Role: Preceptor In-Training
Guillermo Oliver, PhD
Professor of Medicine (Nephrology and Hypertension)
Research Interest: Genetics of normal and pathological organogenesis in lymphatic vasculature
Training Role: Preceptor
Pablo Penaloza-MacMaster, PhD
Assistant Professor of Microbiology-Immunology
Research Interest: Basic mechanisms of T cell and B cell regulation, mechanisms by which immune checkpoints and type I interferons regulate adaptive immunity
Training Role: Preceptor
Harris R. Perlman, PhD
Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology)
Research Interest: Role of co-morbidities in rheumatoid arthritis, macrophage heterogeneity in the target organs (synovium, kidney, and lung) of rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and systemic sclerosis
Training Role: Preceptor
Chiagozie I. Pickens, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care)
Research Interest: To validate and improve the diagnosis and management of severe pneumonia in critically ill patients
Training Role: Preceptor In-Training
Murali Prakriya, PhD
Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine (Allergy and Immunology)
Research Interest: Molecular and cellular mechanisms of intracellular calcium signaling
Training Role: Preceptor
Karen M. Ridge, PhD
Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care) and Cell and Developmental Biology
Research Interest: Immunologic mechanisms that modify cellular responses in the lung that promote inflammation and contribute to lung tissue damage and aberrant remodeling
Training Role: Program Director/Principal Investigator, Preceptor
Evan Scott, PhD
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Research Interest: Unique immunoengineering and biomaterials-based strategies for the treatment and basic understanding of cancer, vaccination, immune dysregulation, and heart disease
Training Role: Preceptor
Ali Shilatifard, PhD
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Pediatrics, and Chemistry
Research Interest: Molecular mechanisms underlying leukemogenesis and potential targets for therapy through detailed studies of proteins and protein complexes that regulate chromatin modifications, transcription initiation, and transcription elongation
Training Role: Preceptor
Benjamin D. Singer, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care) and Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
Research Interest: DNA methylation as a determinant of T cell function in the injured lung
Training Role: Preceptor
Peter H. Sporn, MD
Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care), Cell and Developmental Biology, and Medical Education
Research Interest: Airway inflammation and remodeling; mechanical stress and airway remodeling; hypercapnia and innate immunity in the lung
Training Role: Preceptor
Justin B. Starren, MD, PhD, FACMI
Professor of Preventative Medicine (Health and Biomedical Informatics) and Medical Social Sciences (Determinants of Health)
Research Interest: Biomedical informatics, health informatics, data science, precision medicine, computational biology, information systems, internet intervention, medical informatics, and postgraduate medical education
Training Role: Preceptor
Whitney W. Stevens, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Allergy and Immunology) and Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
Research Interest: Aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD), chronic rhinosinusitis, and asthma
Training Role: Preceptor In-Training
Thomas Stoeger, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care)
Research Interest: Novel research directions for understanding and ultimately mitigating human aging and lung disease associated with aging
Training Role: Preceptor In-Training
Jacob I. Sznajder, MD
Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care) and Cell and Developmental Biology
Research Interest: Acute respiratory failure, alveolar epithelial cell biology, and effect of hypoxia and hypercapnia on lung and muscle function; proteostasis and ubiquitination in lung disease
Training Role: Program Director/Principal Investigator, Preceptor
Douglas E. Vaughan, MD
Professor of Medicine (Cardiology)
Research Interest: Role of the plasminogen activation system in tissue repair, fibrosis, and thrombosis
Training Role: Preceptor
Deborah Winter, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology)
Research Interest: Mapping the gene regulatory networks of immune cells in health and disease, particularly macrophages in sarcoidosis
Training Role: Preceptor
Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care)
Research Interest: Diagnosis, pathogenesis, epidemiology, treatment, and prevention of infections in the critically ill, especially community-acquired pneumonia and hospital-acquired pneumonia; quality improvement in the ICU; septic shock; acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
Training Role: Preceptor
The Department of Medicine at Northwestern University is committed to attracting and ensuring the success of inquisitive, motivated trainees who embrace a growth mindset in learning and education. There are many challenges facing medicine which require a diverse perspective brought by physicians and researchers collaboratively working to tackle these complex issues. The Northwestern University Lung Sciences Training Program recognizes the importance of a diverse and inclusive work environment that ultimately allows our trainees to achieve their goals individually and collectively.
For more information about Northwestern’s commitment to diversity, please see the following resources:
The Training Program in Lung Science has consistently demonstrated our commitment to enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels by providing and maintaining an inclusive and supportive environment for our trainees as they pursue academic careers in the lung sciences.
Here we highlight the involvement of NULSTP trainees and mentors in programs at Northwestern and beyond to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
NULSTP postdoctoral trainee Alexandra Hanrahan, MD, along with NULSTP mentor Laura Dada, PhD and NULSTP mentor-in-training and former NULSTP postdoctoral trainee Luisa Morales-Nebreda, MD, serves as a mentor in the American Heart Association's Hispanic Serving Institution Scholars Program, which works to reduce health inequities in Latino communities and increase representation in the healthcare workforce by investing in aspiring Hispanic researchers and healthcare professionals.
In the HSI Scholars Program, undergraduate students enrolled in biomedical and health sciences at Hispanic-serving institutions participate in academic and career-enriching experiences for a full school year. Scholars learn about health disparities in Hispanic/Latino communities, how cultural sensitivity can provide safe and reassuring clinical spaces, and how inclusivity is essential in science.
Says Luisa Morales-Nebreda, MD, “Personally, I think this is a fantastic opportunity for underrepresented students to engage in biomedical research at an early stage, with a structured mentorship program. There is a growing body of literature suggesting that a diverse and inclusive workforce enhances organizational performance and impactful research. Thus, initiatives like the HSI Scholars Program are well positioned to help close the diversity gap in healthcare and biomedical research.”
MSTP student and former NULSTP predoctoral trainee Manuel A. Torres Acosta worked in the translational research laboratory of David Carbone, MD, PhD, during his undergraduate senior year at The Ohio State University. There, Torres Acosta developed a desire to frame his future scientific goals and interests around facilitating advanced care to underrepresented communities in medicine such as the Latino community. As an underrepresented minority himself, he has been proactive in pursuing leadership opportunities that allow him to grow as a current and future advocate for diversity and inclusion in science and medicine.
As an MD-PhD student in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) under the mentorship of Benjamin D. Singer, MD, Torres Acosta has contributed to the MSTP as co-chair of the inaugural Diversity and Inclusion Committee, a student-led effort to assist in the recruitment of diverse trainees, the creation of educational resources for current students and faculty, and the revision of current recruitment and training practices through the lenses of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Under Torres Acosta’s tenure as co-chair, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee established a recurrent book club on topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion; organized a speaker series with experts on these topics; and administered the first student climate survey focused on the experiences of current trainees as they relate to their identity. Torres Acosta also led a review with fellow MSTP student and former NULSTP Trainee Jeanne Quinn and others on the impact of underrepresented minority or marginalized identity status on training outcomes of MD-PhD students published in BMC Medical Education.
Tatiana Ortiz Serrano, a predoctoral NULSTP trainee under the mentorship of Karen M. Ridge, PhD, has been working as a Diversity and Inclusion Fellow in The Graduate School Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) since 2022. ODI focuses on the recruitment and support of underrepresented populations to foster an inclusive environment and facilitate community engagement, targeting graduate students and postdoctoral trainees. As a fellow, Ortiz Serrano assists with the development of student recruitment and retention programming.
In addition, Ortiz Serrano has served as a group leader for the Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP), a competitive research experience hosted yearly by ODI for college sophomores and juniors; students belonging to groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in graduate education are encouraged to apply. Part of Ortiz Serrano’s duties as a group leader is to mentor five undergraduate students while they complete their assigned biomedical research project.
Says Ortiz Serrano, “Being an NU-SROP alumna myself, I am highly aware of how impactful good mentorship can be to these students. I am honored and grateful for having the opportunity to pass down my knowledge as a graduate student to the future generation of biomedical scientists. I am equally thrilled to share my experience as an ODI fellow and SROP group leader with our Division and NULSTP to foster a more diverse and inclusive community.”
Former NULSTP trainee Colleen Reczek, PhD, co-directs Pulmonary and Critical Care’s Kimberly Querrey Summer Research Program, which provides a competitive research experience for high school and undergraduate students. Supported by an endowment, the program was established by NULSTP program director Jacob I. Sznajder, MD, and today is co-directed by Reczek and NULSTP program director Karen M. Ridge, PhD. All NULSTP trainees participate as mentors in the program, which actively seeks out participants in demographics underrepresented in science and medicine as part of our broader commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in science and medicine.
Carla Patricia Reyes Flores, a predoctoral NULSTP trainee under the mentorship of Benjamin D. Singer, MD, co-coordinates STEM Circuits, an interdisciplinary mentoring program of the Chicago Women in STEM Initiative supporting the success of Chicago-area early-career women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). She has also assisted with recruitment and outreach as a volunteer with Girls 4 Science, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing STEM exposure among girls 10–18 years old. At Northwestern, she has served as a moderator for the Sustained Dialogue Institute, which sought to understand how gender and sexuality impact the lives of medical providers, students, and patients, with the goal of generating an action item to spread awareness on the Feinberg campus.
Reyes Flores focuses her current endeavors on her roles as administrative assistant to the Northwestern University chapter of the Society of Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, advocacy committee chair for the Chicago Graduate Student Association, content advisor to the Feinberg LGBTQ Safe Space Training module, editor-in-chief of the Graduate Women Across Northwestern blog and spotlight initiative, and a mentor for the Student-Assisted Mentoring Program, where she helps an incoming graduate student navigate their first year of graduate school. In 2023, Reyes Flores was awarded an Underrepresented Trainee Development Scholarship from the American Thoracic Society.
Khalilah Gates, MD, serves on the Pulmonary Division’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and on the NULSTP Steering Committee as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chair. As Assistant Dean of Medical Education, she leads the Task Force on Inclusion & Bias in the Department of Medical Education and leads Feinberg’s faculty and student council on racism, justice, and equity for the Augusta Webster, MD, Office of Medical Education. Gates also serves on the Steering Committee of the Emma Reynolds Circle, which initiates recruitment and retention efforts for African American female students and trainees to foster mentorship relationships and build community.
Each trainee is expected to:
The training grant provides:
What is a payback obligation and how do I know if I incur one?
Any postdoctoral NRSA trainee or fellow incurs a payback obligation during their first year of support. Predoctoral NRSA trainees do not incur a payback obligation. Payback means that you will perform qualified research or teaching activities for a length of time equal to the period of NRSA support you received. Receiving 12 months of postdoctoral training support obligates you to perform 12 months of qualified research or teaching activities as payback. Only the first year of training incurs a payback obligation; the second year of training pays back the first year, with each month of qualifying payback activity paying back one month of NRSA support. If you receive two full years of NRSA training, you will have completed your payback obligation. In general, payback activity must involve at least 20 hours per week and be conducted over 12 consecutive months. Special exceptions to these requirements may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Additional resources on payback obligations can be found on the NIH website, along with separate payback FAQs.
All trainees are encouraged to take advantage of the following resources: