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• Summer Undergraduate Research Programs

Albert Einstein College of Medicine  - Bronx, N.Y. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Augusta University  - Augusta, Ga. Summer Student Training and Research (STAR)

Baylor College of Medicine  - Houston, Texas Summer Medical and Research Training Program (SMART)

Boston University School of Medicine  - Boston, Mass. Summer Training as Research Scholars (STaRS)

Brigham and Women's Hospital (in collaboration with Harvard-affiliated hospitals) - Boston, Mass. Harvard Summer Research Program in Kidney Medicine

Case Western Reserve University  - Cleveland, Ohio Summer Undergraduate Research in Pharmacology

Children's Hospital Research Foundation of Cincinnati  - Cincinnati, Ohio Division of Developmental Biology  Undergraduate Summer Student Program

City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute  -Duarte, Calif. Eugene and Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy

Committee on Institutional Cooperation  - Champaign, Ill. Summer Research Opportunities Program

Creighton University - Omaha, Neb. Undergraduate Biomedical Research Training Program

Drexel University College of Medicine  - Philadelphia, Penn. Biomedical Graduate Studies-Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Georgia State University, Neuroscience Institute  - Atlanta, Ga. B&B Summer Scholars Program

Gerstner Sloan-Kettering Graduate School  - New York, N.Y. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Gundersen Health System La Crosse, Wisc. Student Summer Research Fellowship

Harvard Medical School  - Boston, Mass. Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP)

Hofstra North Shore/LIJ School of Medicine  - Manhasset, N.Y. Feinstein Institute for Medical Research Student Intern Program  

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine  - Baltimore, Md. Summer Internship Program (SIP)

Keck Graduate Institute  - Claremont, Calif. Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)

Louisiana State Health Sciences Center.  Shreveport Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Neuroscience  - Shreveport, La. Summer Undergraduate Pharmacology Experience in Research Program (SUPER)

Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine   - Chicago, Ill.

• Undergraduate Summer Research Program, Department of Microbiology & Immunology 
• Summer Undergraduate Research Program, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics 

MaineHealth Institute for Research - Scarborough, Maine Summer Undergraduate Research Program - MaineHealth Institute for Research

Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Diversity and Inclusion  - Boston, Mass. Summer Research Trainee Program

Mayo Clinic  - Rochester, Minn. Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Medical College of Wisconsin  - Milwaukee, Wisc.

• Summer Program for Undergraduate Research
• Summer Enrichment Programs

Medical University of South Carolina  - Charleston, S.C. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center  - New York, N.Y. Medical Student Summer Fellowship Research Program

Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation  - Minneapolis, Minn. Summer Research Internships in Clinical Cardiology

Mount Sinai School of Medicine  - New York, N.Y. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

New York University School of Medicine  - New York, N.Y. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine  - Evanston, Ill.

• Summer Research Opportunity Program
• Cancer-Focused Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE)
• Pre-Med Undergraduate Intern Program

Ohio State University Medical Center  - Columbus, Ohio SUCCESS Summer Undergraduate Course Creating Excellence in Scientific Study

Oregon Health and Science University  - Portland, Ore. Graduate Studies Program

Penn State University, College of Medicine  - Hershey, Pa.

• SURIP – Summer Undergraduate Research Internship Program
• STEP-UP - Short-Term Educational Program for Underrepresented Persons
• SURF – American Heart Association Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Stanford University School of Medicine  - Stanford, Calif. Stanford Summer Research Program (SSRP)/Amgen Scholars Stanford CARE Scholars  

Texas A&M University College of Medicine  - Bryan, Texas Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences   - Lubbock, Texas Summer Accelerated Biomedical Research (SABR) Program

Thomas Jefferson University  - Philadelphia, Penn. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Tufts University  - Boston, Mass. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Summer Research Program

University of Alabama at Birmingham  - Birmingham, Ala. Summer Research Programs for Undergraduates

University at Buffalo (SUNY) School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences  - Buffalo, N.Y. Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)

University of California, Los Angeles  - Los Angeles, Calif. Summer Programs for Undergraduate Research

University of California, San Diego  - La Jolla, Calif. Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program

University of California, San Francisco  - San Francisco, Calif. Summer Research Training Program

University of Chicago  - Chicago. Ill.

• The Leadership Alliance & The University of Chicago Summer Research Early Identification Program
• The Pritzker School of Medicine Experience in Research (PSOMER)

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine  - Cincinnati, Ohio Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF)

University of Colorado Health Sciences Center  - Denver, Colo. Graduate Experience for Multicultural Students (GEMS)

University of Connecticut Health Center  - Farmington, Conn. Undergraduate Summer Research

University of Georgia, Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute  - Athens, Ga. Summer Undergraduate Fellows

University of Illinois at Chicago  - Chicago, Ill. Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP)  

University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine  - Iowa City, Iowa Summer Undergraduate Research Programs

University of Kansas  - Lawrence, Kan. Summer Undergraduate Research Programs

University of Kentucky  - Lexington, Ky. NSF-REU: Summer Program in the Biomedical Sciences

University of Louisville - Ky. Undergraduate Summer Program in Cardiovascular Research for those from Under-Represented or Under-Served Populations

University of Maryland  - Baltimore, Md. Office of Student Research

University of Massachusetts Medical School  - Worcester, Mass. Summer Undergraduate Research Program

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University  - New Brunswick, N.J. Undergraduate Summer Research

University of Michigan  - Ann Arbor, Mich.

• Frankel Cardiovascular Center Summer Fellowship Program
• UM-SMART Undergrad Summer Program
• Michigan Summer Undergraduate Research Experience: Diabetes & Metabolic Diseases (M-SURE)

University of Michigan Medical School, Rogel Cancer Center - Ann Arbor, MI Cancer Research Internship Program (CaRSIP)

University of Minnesota  - Twin Cities, Minn. Life Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Programs (LSSURP)

University of Mississippi  - Jackson, Miss. Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)

University of Nebraska - Lincoln  - Lincoln, Neb. Undergraduate Summer Research Program

University of Nebraska Medical Center  - Omaha, Neb. Summer Undergraduate Research

University of New Mexico School of Medicine  - Albuquerque, N.M. Undergraduate Pipeline Network Summer Research Program

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center  - Oklahoma City, Okla.

• Native American Center for Health Research Summer Undergraduate Research Experience
• Summer Undergraduate Research Experience
• Stephenson Cancer Center Summer Undergraduate Program

University of Pennsylvania  - Philadelphia, Penn.

• Summer Undergraduate Internship Program (SUIP)
• Undergraduate Clinical Scholars Program

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine  - Pittsburgh, Pa.

• Premedical Academic Enrichment Program
• MIDAS summer Research Opportunity
• Undergraduate Summer Research Opportunities
• Training and Experimentation in Computational Biology

University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry  - Rochester, N.Y.

• Strong Children’s Research Center Summer Program
• Summer Scholars Program

University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston  - Houston, Texas Summer Undergraduate Research Program

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center  - Smithville, Texas Summer Program in Cancer Research

University of Texas Medical Branch  - Galveston, Texas Neuroscience Summer Undergraduate Research Program

University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio  - San Antonio, Texas

• GSBS Summer Undergraduate Research Programs
• Greehey CCRI Donald G McEwen, Memorial Summer Undergraduate Research & High School Program

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center  - Dallas, Texas Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

University of Utah  - Salt Lake City, Utah Native American Summer Research Internship (NARI)

University of Virginia School of Medicine  - Charlottesville, Va.

• Minority Health International Research Training Program (MHIRT)
• Summer Research Internship Program

University of Wisconsin  - Madison, Wisc. Integrated Biological Sciences Summer Research Program

Vanderbilt University  - Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy

Virginia Commonwealth University  - Richmond, Va. Summer Research in Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Public Health Epidemiology (MIDPH) 

Wake Forest University  - Winston-Salem, N.C.

• Summer Research Opportunities Program
• Wake Forest University Biomedical Engineering REU Summer Program

Washington University  - St. Louis, Mo.

• AMGEN Scholars Program
• Leadership Alliance

Wayne State University School of Medicine  - Detroit, Mich. Summer Research Programs

Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering  - New York, N.Y.

• Gateways to the Laboratory Summer Program
• Travelers Summer Research Fellowship Program

West Virginia University - Morgantown, WV

• Biomedical Sciences Summer Research Experience for Underrepresented Students

Yale School of Medicine  - New Haven, Conn.

• NIH-NIDDK/KUH Yale Summer Research Fellowship for Undergraduate Students
• BioMed Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Summer Programs of Affiliate GREAT Group Members

The bylaws of the GREAT Group allow the Steering Committee to appoint individuals from non-AAMC member institutions as affiliate members of the GREAT Group. Individuals from the following programs have been appointed affiliate members:

National Institutes of Health  - Bethesda, Md. Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Research

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The Guide to Becoming a Medical Researcher

• February 1, 2023

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As a medical researcher, your job is to conduct research to improve the health status and longevity of the population. The career revolves around understanding the causes, treatments, and prevention of diseases and medical conditions through rigorous clinical investigations, epidemiological studies, and laboratory experiments. As a medical researcher, simply gaining formal education won’t suffice. You also need to hone your communication, critical thinking, decision-making, data collecting, data analyzing and observational skills. These skill sets will enable you to create a competitive edge in the research industry. On a typical day, a medical researcher would be collecting, interpreting, and analyzing data from clinical trials, working alongside engineering, regulatory, and quality assurance experts to evaluate the risk of medical devices, or maybe even preparing and examining medical samples for causes or treatments of toxicity, disease, or pathogens.

How To Become a Medical Research Doctor?

The roadmap to medical research is a bit tricky to navigate, because it is a profession that demands distinctive skills and expertise along with mandatory formal education. If you harbor an interest in scientific exploration and a desire to break new ground in medical knowledge, the first step is to earn a bachelor’s degree in a related field, such as biology, chemistry, or biochemistry. After completing your undergraduate education, you will need to earn a Medical Degree ( MD ) or a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree, from a quality institution such as the Windsor university school of Medicine.

After that, the newly minted doctor of medicine (MD) may choose to complete a three-year residency program in a specialty related to medical research, such as internal medicine, pediatrics, or neurology, in addition to a doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree—the part that provides the research expertise. In some  medical school  programs, students may pursue a dual MD-PhD at the same time, which provides training in both medicine and research. They are specifically designed for those who want to become research physicians. Last but not the least, all physician-scientists must pass the first two steps of the United States Medical Learning Examination (USMLE).

Use your fellowship years to hone the research skills necessary to carry out independent research. You may also take courses in epidemiology, biostatistics, and other related fields. In order to publish your research in peer-reviewed journals to establish yourself as a medical researcher. To apply for a faculty position at a medical school, research institute, or hospital. To maintain your position as a medical research doctor, you must publish your research and make significant contributions to the field.

How Much Do Medical Researchers Make?

Having a clear idea of what to earn when you become a medical researcher can help you decide if this is a good career choice for you. The salaries of Medical Researchers in the US range from $26,980 to $155,180, with a median salary of $82,240. There is also room for career advancement and higher earning potential as you gain experience.

The Most Popular Careers in Medical Research

• Medical Scientists  – conduct research and experiments to improve our understanding of diseases and to develop new treatments. They also develop new medical technologies and techniques.
• Biomedical engineers  – design medical devices, such as pacemakers, prosthetics, and imaging machines. They also develop and improve existing medical technologies.
• Clinical Trial Coordinators  – oversee and manage clinical trials, which test new drugs and treatments. They are responsible for recruiting participants, collecting and analyzing data, and ensuring the trial is conducted in compliance with ethical standards.
• Medical Laboratory Technicians  – analyze bodily fluids and tissues to diagnose diseases and conditions. They perform tests using specialized equipment and techniques, and report results to physicians.
• Biostatisticians  – collect statistics to analyze data and test hypotheses in medical research. They design and analyze clinical trials, and use statistical models to understand the causes and effects of diseases.
• Epidemiologists  – study the causes, distribution, and control of diseases in populations. They collect and analyze data, and use their findings to develop strategies for preventing and controlling diseases.
• Pathologists  – diagnose diseases by examining tissues and bodily fluids. They use microscopes and other diagnostic tools to identify and study the changes in tissues caused by disease.
• Genetic Counselors  – help individuals understand and manage the risks associated with inherited genetic disorders. They educate patients about genetic tests and help families make informed decisions about their health.
• Health Services Researchers  – study the delivery of healthcare and identify ways to improve it.
• Medical writers  – write articles, reports, and other materials related to medical research.
• Microbiologists  – study microorganisms, including bacteria and viruses, to understand their behavior and impact on human health.
• Neuroscientists  – study the brain and nervous system to understand the underlying causes of neurological conditions.
• Toxicologists  – study the effects of toxic substances on living organisms and the environment.

Skills You Need to Become a Medical Researcher?

To be a successful medical scientist, you need a range of soft and hard skills to excel in your work. First things first, medical researchers must be able to analyze data, identify patterns, and draw conclusions from their findings. They must be able to think critically, ask relevant questions, and design experiments to answer those questions. Additionally, you should also have the knack of articulating your findings clearly and effectively, be it writing research papers, grant proposals, or technical reports that are clear, concise, and free from errors.

Medical researchers must be proficient in using various computer programs and software to collect, manage, analyze and interpret research data. They must be able to use laboratory equipment and techniques, as well as statistical analysis software and other tools for data analysis. Since medical research involves precise and meticulous work, so you must also pay close attention to detail to ensure that your findings are accurate and reliable. Not to mention, medical researchers often work in teams, so it pays off if you are good at collaborating with others effectively, sharing ideas, and working together to solve complex problems.

Lastly, medical researchers must have a thorough understanding of regulations and ethical guidelines that govern research, such as obtaining informed consent from study participants, ensuring data confidentiality, and adhering to safety protocols.

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Yale Summer Undergraduate Medical Research

The Yale Summer Undergraduate Medical Research (SUMR) is an intensive training program in modern methods of kidney, urology and hematology research with the intent to foster undergraduate students to pursue a career in biomedical research. Training is provided in both laboratory and patient-based research from the various departments (Internal Medicine, Urology, Genetics, Cell Biology, Cellular and Molecular Physiology, and Epidemiology and Public Health) that are often interconnected in understanding biology of the kidney, lower urinary tract, and hematopoiesis during health and disease. The undergraduate students’ experience will be enhanced not only by performing experiments but by an organized didactic teaching schedule given by dedicated mentors, as well as a wide array of teaching conferences available in the selected departments. The student will also have the opportunity to present his or her research at institutions funded by the R25 program at the end of the summer rotation. The overall goal is for the students in this program to enroll in graduate or medical school at a research-intensive institution focusing on kidney, hematological, or urological research.

Shuta Ishibe, MD, is a NIH-funded investigator with a passion in mentoring future biomedical researchers. He has been the Director of the Yale SUMR KUH program since 2014 providing a hands on research experience. He is also active as a American Society of Nephrology STARS mentor (medical students, residents, fellows) during Kidney Week, and is the Director of the Enrichment Program for the George O’Brien Kidney Center at Yale, and the Research Fellowship Director for Nephrology.

Professor of Medicine (Nephrology); Director, Undergraduate Summer Research Program for Nephrology; Director, Research Fellowship; Director for Educational Enrichment, George M. O'Brien Center, Nephrology

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Duke University in 2019 initiated a university-wide effort to elevate and sustain excellence in the sciences with new funding for research, recruitment of nationally recognized scholars, and retainment of highly regarded scientific leaders at Duke. Launched with a $100 million investment from The Duke Endowment — divided equally between the university and the School of Medicine — Duke Science and Technology (DST) positions Duke to maximize the potential of revolutionary advances in fields such as genomics, data science, and artificial intelligence.

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The Summer Undergraduate Research Training (SMART) Program provides frontier-level, biomedical summer research projects for undergraduates in a supportive environment with supplemental educational activities.

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The application for the 2024 summer research program is now closed. The application for the 2025 program will open in October 2024.

A Unique Experience Awaits!

Your position is a real job, with a compensation package of approximately $5,400 for nine weeks. Depending on the funding source, your compensation will be all salary or a combination of salary and allocation for housing or travel. In addition to everything you learn about science through research, daily seminars, discussion groups, and extra activities; the experience of getting to know the other participants and people here at Baylor College of Medicine is extraordinary.

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"I came to Baylor College of Medicine in 2014 as a SMART student after I came across the program when searching for a summer program. I loved it! I survived the Houston summer and still wanted to come back to Houston. There is so much collaboration here, not just within BCM, but throughout the medical center." - Brittany Armstrong, Ph.D. Student and Former SMART Participant

“When I had my first meeting with my bench mentor, I was super nervous to the point where I was scared to ask questions. However, Dr. Lian soon proved me wrong. Surprisingly, he was understanding and has been providing me with resources to facilitate my research. He made sure to not use jargon during our talk, and I felt like I was talking to a friend rather than a supervisor. Overall, I am very thankful to SMART for this opportunity.” - Jessie, 2020 SMART Student

“The research discussion group has exceeded my expectations. Where I expected a group of self-isolating, timid individuals, I have found. Vibrant and engaging group. Moreover, the nature of each meeting has been well beyond what I anticipated. Discussions and activities with the group have kept me engaged, interested and professional. Given the circumstances, I could not have asked for a better summer research experience.” - Matt, 2020 SMART Student

“This is my second year participating in the SMART program. I reapplied because I had such a great experience last year. Baylor staff have done an amazing job transitioning the program online while providing students with the same opportunities. I am thankful to my mentors and Baylor staff for this invaluable experience.” Miranda, 2019 & 2020 SMART Student

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Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy

Undergraduate clinical research internship program.

The Vanderbilt Undergraduate Clinical Research Internship Program (UCRIP) gives college students earning a four-year degree the opportunity to participate in both research and clinical patient care at an academic medical center.  This program is designed for students who are interested in a career in medicine.  Participants will complete a research project under the directorship of a research mentor and also directly observe clinical patient care while spending time with residents and attending physicians.

• The 2024 session will run from the beginning of June through the first week in August, with the Sunday before and Saturday after allotted for moving.
• Program participants will be required to attend on-site orientation and training prior to beginning their research and clinical experiences.
• Students will round with a hospital-based general medicine physician team each week.
• Students will be assigned a research mentor and project by the Program Director. The director will try to place each participant with a mentor in an area of his/her interest as is available.  The project may be either clinical or basic science research.
• Students will attend weekly seminars to discuss various topics, including medical school admissions, medical student life, medical education, and other issues related to healthcare.
• Program participants will be required to present their research at the conclusion of the program.
• The program provides each student housing on the Vanderbilt campus for the summer. Information on Vanderbilt summer housing can be found here: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/meetatvanderbilt/academic-intern-housing/
• Participants will receive a stipend of $1,500. The program does not provide support for travel or meals.
• Students will have the opportunity to interact socially and academically with students participating in other Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy programs.
• Disadvantaged students accepted into the program may be eligible for financial assistance.

Eligibility

• The Program is limited to U.S. citizens (or persons having U.S. Permanent Resident status) earning a  four-year undergraduate degree at an accredited US college or university.
• Applying students must be a college undergraduate during the summer of the program year.
• Applying students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or greater on a 4.0 scale.
• Preference is given to candidates with prior research experience and who have taken advanced science courses.
• Applying students should have a strong desire to pursue an M.D. degree or a combined M.D./Ph.D. degree.

Application Instructions

The application will include:

• A brief personal statement which addresses your interests, your qualifications for the program, and how you believe this program will help you achieve your professional goals.
• Two letters of recommendation
• Uploaded unofficial transcript

The application opens on October 1. The application deadline is February 1, 2024. Click here to start the application through the Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy

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What to Know About Undergraduate Research

Many students don’t consider undergraduate research when searching for a co-op or internship, but it can have the same benefits – if not better – than those traditional options. This blog will detail the benefits of undergraduate research, including skills you can gain, types of research, and how to find opportunities.

Benefits of Undergraduate Research

The field of research is the heart of innovation and is responsible for the continuous advancement of medical care, artificial intelligence, space exploration, and so much more. Similar to an industry internship or co-op, participating in a research lab gives students the opportunity to gain experience, build a relevant skillset, and learn about their field. Unique to research, though, is the development of critical thinking skills. Because they’re constantly looking for new answers, methods, or ideas, researchers build very strong critical thinking skills, which are highly desired in the world of engineering. Other skills like independence and collaboration are also specially attained in research because you are responsible for designing/completing your own experiments and analyzing the results with multidisciplinary teams. Beyond technical and interpersonal skills, research also provides the opportunity to present and publish your work. Whether you present your research at a conference or publish it in a research journal, being an author on a formal technical document is an amazing qualification to have when applying for a position – in both industry and academia!

How to Find Opportunities

Research opportunities may be posted on job boards, like Handshake or LinkedIn, but you’re more likely to find them elsewhere. There are two main types of research opportunities you will find: on-campus at Ohio State and at other institutions. Ohio State professors love to take on undergraduate students and frequently have positions available. The best way to find professors and information about their research is on the department website (i.e., biomedical engineering ). Many departments have professors separated by research interest, so it is very easy to search within a field you are interested in. From here, you can reach out by email to professors to ask them about open positions (I like to format it similar to a cover letter, but ECS can help draft an email with you!). On-campus research can be completed during the school year while still taking classes or during the summer, where you can take on more hours. On the contrary, off-campus research is more similar to an internship, where you can work full-time over the summer or take a co-op during an academic term. Specifically during the summer, many universities offer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REUs) where you typically live on that universities campus. 

Ultimately, there are a plethora of research opportunities here at Ohio State and across the nation, which are frequently available for younger students without prior experience. Getting involved in research can help you build a unique and relevant skillset that’ll make you stand out on job applications while also getting hands-on experience in advanced topics. Research experience is just as impactful as internship or co-op experience, so start your search today!

“Don’t wait for opportunity, create it.” - George Bernard Shaw

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Medical School secures £1.14 million to support undergraduate research opportunities

Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS) has been successful in securing funding from National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to support medical students expand their experience in research. The funds will support 28 KMMS students to undertake summer internships in research, and 21 students to study intercalated Master’s degrees over the next three years.

The funding marks a big step forward in realising the medical school’s vision to become a regional hub for high-quality research and knowledge exchange and commitment to high-quality clinical teaching and research, with strong collaborative partnerships with NHS Trusts across Kent and Medway. The research undertaken aims to build a bridge between the communities across the region, service providers within the local NHS Trusts and social care, and the academics and researchers at the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University.

For medical students interested in pursuing academic careers, these opportunities help establish a pipeline to embed research experience throughout their studies. Alongside the Individual Research Project that is carried out in years 3 – 4, internship opportunities will now be available from year 1, and after year 3, KMMS students will also have the opportunity to undertake a funded intercalated degree. In this first year of funding, KMMS will be able to support eight students work in research internship programmes, and five students to intercalate.

Professor Sukhi Shergill , Co-Director of Research at KMMS, said: ‘This new funding is an important milestone in our ambition to create a research pipeline starting from medical student through junior doctors to senior clinical academics.  This is completely new funding for research in Kent that is only available because of the existence of our own medical school. This is fantastic news for us, the local NHS and the wider community that these doctors will serve.’

Professor Lisa Dikomitis , Co-Director of Research at KMMS, said: ‘This NIHR award allows us to further develop an inclusive, interdisciplinary research culture in our new medical school, and to put medical students at the heart of that development. We are already conducting cross-disciplinary research, this new funding will facilitate for our medical students to work with researchers from a wide range of academic and clinical backgrounds.’

This new funding aimed at encouraging students and young doctors into research is worth over £2 million to KMMS, its parent universities and the local NHS Trusts over the next three years.

It builds on funding already received from NIHR to fund seven Academic Clinical Fellows posts – the first of whom will join from September. These are doctors in the early stages of their speciality training, who will conduct research at KMMS alongside their clinical work in the local Trusts. In addition, there is money to support the development of the new Clinical Academic Training Office, which is being set up to support all clinical academic trainees, both undergraduate and postgraduate.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Do future healthcare professionals advocate for pharmacogenomics a study on medical and health sciences undergraduate students.

• 1 College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
• 2 Department of Pharmacy, Laboratory of Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
• 3 United Arab Emirates University, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Genetics and Genomics, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
• 4 United Arab Emirates University, Zayed Center for Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
• 5 Erasmus University Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Pathology, Clinical Bioinformatics Unit, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Pharmacogenomics (PGx) is a rapidly changing field of genomics in which healthcare professionals play an important role in its implementation in the clinical setting, however PGx level of adoption remains low. This study aims to investigate the attitude, self-confidence, level of knowledge, and their impact on health sciences undergraduate students’ intentions to adopt PGx in clinical practice using a questionnaire developed based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A model was proposed and a questionnaire was developed that was distributed to 467 undergraduate students of all academic years from four different departments of the University of Sharjah (UoS) including medical, dental, nursing, and pharmacy students from September 2022 to November 2022. Descriptive statistics along with factor analysis and regression analysis were conducted. The proposed model had a good internal consistency and fit. Attitude was the factor with the greatest impact on student’s intentions followed by self-confidence and barriers. The level of knowledge had a meaningless impact. The majority of students shared a positive attitude and were aware of PGx benefits. Almost 60% of the respondents showed a high level of knowledge, while 50% of them were confident of implementing PGx in their clinical practice. Many students were prone to adopt PGx in their future careers. PGx testing cost and the lack of reimbursement were the most important barriers. Overall, students shared a positive intention and were prone to adopt PGx. In the future, it would be important to investigate the differences between gender, year of studies, and area of studies studies and their impact on students’ intentions.

Introduction

Pharmacogenomics (PGx) is a scientific discipline that merges pharmacology and genomics ( Abdela et al., 2017 ). PGx testing is becoming more and more widely available in healthcare settings, and a growing body of actionable high-level evidence for clinical utility mandates the provision of sustainable PGx education to healthcare professionals. As a component of personalized medicine, PGx uses genetic information to optimize therapeutic benefits, enhance clinical outcomes, and reduce drug adverse reactions (ADR) ( Klein et al., 2017 ; Barker et al., 2022 ). Thus, PGx can potentially improve the therapeutic strategy of a patient by selecting the appropriate medication at the correct dosage ( Verbelen et al., 2017 ). Although, sub-optimal response to medication along with the presence of ADRs can be partially explained by other factors including sub-dosing, drug allergy, drug-drug interactions, or lack of patient compliance, a person’s genetic makeup remains an important factor to consider ( Rollinson et al., 2020 ). Many clinical studies in adult patients have demonstrated the clinical utility of PGx in drug management ( Klein et al., 2017 ; Verbelen et al., 2017 ; Swen et al., 2023 ).

PGx applications have gained momentum in the last decades thanks to the completion of the Whole Genome Sequence and AllOfUs program in the United States, and led to an increased popularity and the launch of other clinical projects such as the Emirati Genome Project in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ( Klein et al., 2017 ; Al-Ali et al., 2018 ). Healthcare professionals including physicians, pharmacists, dentists, and nurses are welcoming the PGx concept and are trying to incorporate it into their clinical practice but at a slow pace ( Hansen et al., 2022 ). Their role in PGx clinical application has been thoroughly investigated in many studies ( Albassam et al., 2018 ; Algahtani, 2020 ; Alhaddad et al., 2022 ). Indeed, it was shown that healthcare professionals had a rather positive attitude and were willing to adopt it but they lacked the proper knowledge and training along with self-confidence ( Abdela et al., 2017 ; Albassam et al., 2018 ; Algahtani, 2020 ; Smith et al., 2020 ; Albitar and Alchamat, 2021 ; Alhaddad et al., 2022 ; Hansen et al., 2022 ; Hayashi and Bousman, 2022 ).

Several challenges and barriers impede PGx’s widespread implementation despite the proven clinical and economic effectiveness of PGx ( Chenoweth et al., 2020 ; Koufaki et al., 2021 ). The lack of healthcare knowledge and training in the field, the high cost of PGx testing, the lack of reimbursement, and moral and bioethical concerns are some examples. This slow PGx adoption rate in clinical practice must change. To do so, future healthcare professionals must receive a proper education in PGx aiming to overcome their concerns and reluctance. There is another publication, by Rahma and coworkers, 2020, about UAE undergraduate and postgraduate students’ attitudes and level of knowledge related to genomics and PGx ( Rahma et al., 2020 ). In contrast to Rahma and coworkers, 2020 study, our project concentrated on undergraduate medical and health science students and it investigates the impact of four different factors in their intention to adopt PGx and not only two ( Rahma et al., 2020 ). In addition, the survey instrument used in this project was developed based on a behavioral theory and not only based on literature.

In this study, we investigated the attitudes, self-confidence, level of knowledge, barriers, and intentions of health sciences undergraduate students from different Colleges of the University of Sharjah (UoS) to adopt PGx applications in clinical practice using a questionnaire developed based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Our objectives were to evaluate the impact of different factors on students’ intentions and to highlight any correlations or relations among factors.

Materials and methods

Research framework.

Based on the theory of TPB, we created a modified framework for assessing the effect of several variables on health science students’ intention to adopt PGx testing in their clinical practice. This behavioral theory enables to investigate of the correlation of beliefs, attitudes, and intentions to a behavior since it assumes behavioral intention is the key determinant of behavior ( U.S. Department of Health and, Health, 2012 ). TBP pinpoints that three main factors affect a person’s intention; normative beliefs (attitudes), social influence and beliefs (subjective norm), along with control beliefs (perceived behavior control) ( Bosnjak et al., 2020 ). In parallel, it is assumed that other external factors do not independently affect a person’s behavior ( Godin and Kok, 1996 ; Bosnjak et al., 2020 ). In our case, we included four factors including attitude (attitudes, compatibility of PGx, PGx clinical benefits), level of knowledge, self-confidence/self-efficacy, barriers, and concerns along with one moderator (demographics). The proposed model along with the factors’ relationships are depicted in Figure 1 .

Figure 1 . The framework of the proposed model on which the study’s survey was based.

Study design

A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted from September 2022 to November 2022. This study used a validated 41-item questionnaire developed by the Laboratory of Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at the Department of Pharmacy, University of Patras, Greece, and previously published ( Siamoglou et al., 2021a ; Siamoglou et al., 2021b ; Koufaki et al., 2022 ). The questionnaire was written in English. It consisted of six main sections that included demographics (5 questions), general knowledge related to PGx interventions (11 questions), attitudes (6 questions), self-confidence in applying PGx in a professional setting (6 questions), barriers and concerns (7 questions), willingness to adopt PGx in clinical practice (6 questions). All items were measured on a seven-point Likert scale, with one being “totally disagree” and seven being “totally agree”. Only the knowledge section was measured on a three-point scale ranging from (agree, disagree, and not sure). The study was approved by the UoS Research Ethics Committee (REC-22-06–06-01-S). An informed consent was provided, and participants had to give their approval before proceeding with the questionnaire’s distribution.

Study sample

The study sample consisted of 467 undergraduate students from four different departments of UoS including medical, dental, nursing, and pharmacy students. An online questionnaire was distributed via Google Forms to all enrolled undergraduate health science students of all academic years. Students could participate only one time using their academic email, while they could update their answers before final submission. Almost two-thirds of the sample were female students as expected based on students’ representation in each department, since almost 70% are women. Moreover, 35% of participants derived from the Department of Medicine. Participants were dispersed equally, although representation from first and fifth year students was low. The multinational environment of UoS was illustrated in the examined cohort as well. Indeed, students from 35 different nationalities were included in the study, with 17% derived from Syria, 15.4% from Jordan, 14.3% from Egypt, 11% from the United Arab Emirates, and 13% from other countries. Countries with students’ representation of less than 10 students per country were grouped into one named “others”. The following countries were included: Afghanistan, Algeria, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Canada, Comoros, Djibouti, Dominica, Finland, India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, USA. Finally, only 135 out of 467 students had attended a PGx lecture in the past. Table 1 summarizes the demographics of the sample.

Table 1 . Students’ demographics.

Data analysis

SPSS statistical tool (version 28; IBM, NY, USA) was used. Frequencies, the proportion of correct replies, descriptive statistics (mean value, standard deviation (SD)), and regression analysis were included in the data analysis. Factor analysis using Cronbach’s Alpha Analysis was used to assess the integrity of the scale of our five factors questionnaire including demographics, level of knowledge, attitudes, self-confidence, and willingness to adopt PGx in clinical practice. All these are illustrated in graphs. Goodness-of-fit tests such as the Chi-square test, Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Goodness of Fit Index (GFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) were also used to confirm the survey’s validity and reproducibility.

This study’s results are shown in Tables 2 ; Figures 1 – 7 . Cronbach analysis was performed. As demonstrated in Table 2 four out of the five factors of this study’s instrument had a Cronbach’s alpha value above 0.8. Only level of knowledge had a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.509. Given the fact that Cronbach’s alpha coefficient measures the internal consistency of a scale and a coefficient of 0.7 or higher is generally considered acceptable, it is indicated that the overall internal consistency of the questionnaire scale is acceptable. The level of knowledge as a factor is less consistent probably due to the different measuring scales used.

Table 2 . Cronbach’s alpha values for each section.

Figure 2 . Students’ attitudes towards PGx clinical application. As it is shown in the bar plot, the majority of students have a positive attitude towars PGx application in the clinical practice and were aware of PGx benefits.

Figure 3 . Differences in attitudes based on students’ gender. Female students has slightly more positive attitude regarding PGx testing in clinical practice. Almost 75% of female students claimed that counseling patients for their PGx results is relevant of their profesion and they believed that patients will do a PGx testing in the future.

Figure 4 . Level of knowledge as reported by participants expressed in three-level Likert scale. Overall respondents had a good level of knowledge especially the theoretical ones. 83% of the students were aware that PGx will optimise drug dosing and improves drug efficacy.

Figure 5 . Main barriers and concerns about PGx clinical application. Respondents agreed with most noted barriers and concerns. It was shown that there were not important moral and religious issues related to PGx implementation.

Figure 6 . Students’ self-confidence towards PGx clinical application expressed in percentages. Respondents showed a good self-confidence and were prepared to implement I in ther future career.

Figure 7 . Students’ willingness to adopt PGx in the future. The majority of respondents were prone to recommend PGx testing in their family or patient while 67% will implement PGx testing in their future career. However, one-third of students were not interested in continue their studies in PGx.

Upon confirming instrument validity, a confirmatory factor analysis was performed, as shown in Tables 3 , 4 , 5 , close to 0.5 indicating that the proposed model has an acceptable fit. However, GFI, NFI, and RFI indexes were close to 0.8 but not close to 0.9, a fact that highlights that the model proposed is not the perfect fit. The model is applied in a highly diverse cohort in terms of nationalities, scientific backgrounds, and years of studies, and thus, having at least a few parameters within acceptable ranges, it can be concluded that the model is of good fit ( Doll et al., 1994 ; Baumgartner and Homburg, 1996 ).

Table 3 . Results of factor analysis.

Table 4 . Results of factor analysis (RMSEA).

Table 5 . Model’s fitness check.

Regression analysis

Moreover, to investigate the interaction between items and factors, a multiple regression analysis was conducted. Most of the item estimates (items related to demographics were not included in the analysis) were found to be close to 0.7. The coefficient of determination (R 2 )

was 0.769 and R 2 was close to 0.6, signifying that the model was a good fit. Items about the level of knowledge were less than 0.6. A positive R-value indicates that a linear relationship exists between the dependent variable and the independent variables, while a negative R-value pinpointed an inverse relationship between them. The absolute value of R indicates the strength of the relationship. R 2 is an indicator of the proportion of the variability of the dependent variable that is inevitably explained by the independent variables in multiple regression analysis.

In the current regression analysis, the standardized beta coefficients for factors level of knowledge, attitudes, self-confidence, barriers, and concerns were found to be 0.050, 0.514, 0.243, and 0.147, respectively. A positive beta coefficient indicates that the dependent variable will increase as the independent variable increases. Therefore, it was found that attitudes exert the greatest effect on students’ intentions to adopt PGx, followed by barriers and concerns in PGx adoption and their level of self-confidence. The level of knowledge appeared not to exert a significant impact. It is not clear whether this observation is confirmed since this factor was measured on a different scale. Furthermore, the effect of attitude is the most per the standardized regression weight suggesting that there is a strong positive impact of the factor on students’ intentions. Barriers and self-confidence shared a similar effect and less than that of attitudes, while the level of knowledge had a very low effect. Correlation between items and factors was very high showing a great fit (see Supplementary Tables S1–3 ). The level of knowledge is positively correlated with attitudes with an estimate of 0.541 and barriers are positively correlated with attitudes as a factor with an estimate of 0.679.

Students shared an overall positive attitude about PGx testing in the clinical practice and it was demonstrated that they were aware of its clinical benefits. More precisely, 82% of students agreed that PGx testing will improve drug efficacy and optimize drug dosage, while the majority of them (around 70%) agreed that will lead to a significant decrease in the incidence rate of ADRs and improve patients’ quality of life during a drug therapy. The same trend was observed when respondents were asked about PGx’s role in medication expenditures since almost 80% pointed out that agreed with this item and 17% had a neutral opinion. Finally, two-thirds of respondents considered PGx relevant to their professional setting and the same proportion believed that part of their professional role is to counsel patients regarding PGx information ( Figure 2 ). When respondents’ answers were analyzed based on their gender, it was demonstrated that both male and female students demonstrated a similar positive attitude and there were only slight differences in the two items. Indeed, female students presented a more positive attitude by 12% compared to their male counterparts when they were asked about the relevance of PGx in their profession and they were more convinced that more patients will undergo PGx testing in the future ( Figure 3 ).

Level of knowledge

Furthermore, the level of knowledge was also investigated. Students were found to have a moderate to good level of knowledge. Almost 60% of the respondents answered correctly the relevant questions especially those related to general theoretical knowledge. This trend is not followed when the question is more specific and lab-based ( Figure 4 ). Two-thirds of participants gave the wrong answer when they were asked if genetic determinants of drug response change over a person’s lifetime. Almost half of the participants were not sure if PGx testing is available for all medications and that the gene is involved in warfarin metabolization. More precisely, 23% were neutral and only 9% found the correct answer.

Barriers and concerns

Participants were aware of the most cited barriers and concerns related to PGx testing implementation as shown in Figure 5 ; Table 6 . Indeed, the most important barriers based on the respondents’ feedback were the lack of trained personnel (79%), followed by the cost of PGx testing (73%), data privacy concerns (64%), and the lack of reimbursement. A great percentage of participants (54%) believed that PGx can cause psychological distress to patients (mean = 4.63 and SD = 1.63). Finally, students did not consider the existence of moral and religious concerns as a very significant barrier (mean 4.38 and SD = 1.77). Only 44% agreed on that while 29% were neutral and 27% were negative.

Table 6 . Mean and Standard Deviation of Items used in the study’s questionnaire.

Self-confidence

When students were asked to characterize their self-confidence in other words, to describe their readiness and capability in practicing PGx in their future clinical practice, it was stated as moderate as it is illustrated in Figure 6 . Indeed, it was found that around 50% of participants were competent to identify therapeutic areas or medications with PGx recommendations and almost half of the respondents stated to be comfortable to formulate a patient’s treatment scheme based on PGx results (mean = 4.34 and SD = 1.84). The vast majority believed that they would efficiently discuss PGx testing information with their healthcare colleagues. Their level of readiness dropped when it came to implementing PGx results in drug therapy selection, dosing, and monitoring whereas a third of students did not feel well-prepared to inform patients about the benefits and risks of PGx testing (mean = 4.09 and SD = 1.91). Finally, students were not shown to be confident about their educational training to identify the proper source of clinical information about this topic. Indeed 43% claimed not to be well trained, 20% had a neutral position and only 37% were positive (mean = 3.83 and SD = 2.05).

Intention to adopt PGx in the clinical practice

As shown in Figure 7 , participants were willing to incorporate PGx testing in their clinical practice in the future. There was an interest in expanding their knowledge and expertise in the topic either by pursuing a postgraduate program or attending a seminar. Admittedly, almost 60% of the students (mean = 5.54 and SD = 1.53) would like to attend a workshop or a PGx training in the future while 41% were prone to pursue a PGx-related postgraduate program (mean = 4.02 and SD = 1.95). The majority of students (almost 70%) were willing to conduct a PGx test for themselves (mean 5.21 and SD = 1.67), and 67% were positive in recommending it to a relative or a friend. (mean = 5.20 and SD = 1.50). It was also noticed that respondents had a positive tendency to apply PGx testing in their clinical routine because more than half of them (67% and 70% respectively) answered that they would implement it in their professional setting in the future and they would recommend it to a patient (mean = 5.11 and SD = 1.51 and mean = 5.32 and SD = 1.56).

PGx is an emerging field of personalized medicine that can offer a series of advantages in drug management. Besides the plenty and proven clinical benefits, the adoption rate of PGx applications in clinical practice remains low across the globe. The main way to boost PGx implementation is by investing in having adequately trained future generations of healthcare professionals. For this reason, we aimed to investigate the attitudes, beliefs, and level of knowledge of health science undergraduate students of UoS.

According to our findings, the proposed model had a good internal consistency since four out of five independent factors had a Cronbach α that was over 0.8. The model had also a good fit (CMIN/DF was almost three while RMSEA was found at 0.65), a fact that is highly important since in social studies it is not common to find high consistency scores. In addition, the proposed model managed to fit the multinational and heterogeneous character of the sample, a fact that is also significant. Based on the regression analysis, attitude was the factor with the greatest impact on students’ intentions to adopt PGx which also correlated with barriers and level of knowledge. The level of knowledge did not fit well in the model and had a meaningless impact on students’ intentions. Self-confidence and barriers were shown to contribute to students’ willingness to adopt, while barriers were positively correlated with attitudes as well.

Moreover, UoS students had a positive attitude, a moderate level of knowledge along with good level of self-confidence. Most of the respondents confirmed that PGx is relevant to their profession whereas, as it was indicated, a great percentage of students were aware of PGx clinical applications and its benefits. There is a slight difference between students’ attitudes based on their gender, while, they considered that lack of reimbursement, high PGx testing cost, shortage of trained personnel, and data privacy concerns were the main obstacles to slow PGx adoption. The majority of students were willing to broaden their knowledge in the field via a postgraduate course or a seminar. In addition, they intend to apply PGx testing in their clinical routine in the future and most of them would recommend a relevant test to a patient.

Based on the literature, undergraduate students who attend health-related courses in medicine, pharmacy, or nursing share a positive attitude toward PGx applications. In Wen and coworkers, 2022 study, it was shown that the vast majority of first-year pharmacy students in the United States considered PGx as a useful tool and 57% agreed that it is relevant to their profession while 22% totally agreed that PGx will be relevant to their clinical practice ( Wen et al., 2022 ). Siamoglou and coworkers, 2021 also concluded with similar results. Students from Malaysia and Greece shared a positive attitude towards genetic testing and were aware of the benefits and relative advantages of preemptive testing ( Siamoglou et al., 2021a ). Finally, according to Shah and coworkers, 2022, female pharmacy students in Pakistan demonstrated a better attitude towards PGx testing compared to their male counterparts, an observation that comes in agreement with our results ( Shah et al., 2022 ).

Most of the available publications indicated that undergraduate students showed a weak or moderate level of knowledge ( Siamoglou et al., 2021b ; Koufaki et al., 2022 ; Makrygianni et al., 2023 ). According to Makrygianni and coworkers, 2023, this factor did not exert any impact on students’ intentions ( Makrygianni et al., 2023 ). Koufaki and coworkers, 2022 concluded that Malaysian and Greek pharmacy students had a rather low level of knowledge ( Koufaki et al., 2022 ). Furthermore, Arafah and coworkers, 2022 mentioned that the overall level of knowledge of Saudi Arabian pharmacy students was low and that students lacked practical skills, an observation that was also made by Makrygianni and coworkers, 2023 ( Arafah et al., 2022 ; Makrygianni et al., 2023 ). Makrygianni and coworkers, 2023, also presented that students were reluctant to answer advanced technical questions, and that had an impact on their self-confidence ( Makrygianni et al., 2023 ). Finally, graduate pharmacy students expressed that gaining in-depth knowledge was a key to their future career advancement based on Koufaki and coworkers, 2023 ( Koufaki et al., 2023 ).

Moreover, the level of knowledge was positively correlated with attitudes, an observation that agrees with the existing literature ( Makrygianni et al., 2023 ). However, it was demonstrated that the moderate level of knowledge has not negatively affected students’ attitudes or self-confidence. Students have a high level of self-confidence about implementing PGx in the future and only items related to training readiness received less positive feedback, an observation that might be due to the level of knowledge. This is congruent with other studies ( Mehtar et al., 2022 and Domnic et al., 2022 ). For instance, based on Mehtar and coworkers 2022, in Lebanon, approximately, 73% of all pharmacy students stated that they should be able to identify patients that might benefit from any type of genetic testing and they could use PGx, in their future practice ( Mehtar et al., 2022 ). Regarding students’ reluctance in being able to adjust or alter a patient’s treatment following PGx testing, Domnic, and coworkers, 2022 study, pointed out that 36% of medical students agreed that they were confident to use the PGx results to stratify a patient’s treatment, whereas 40% agreed that they needed better knowledge ( Domnic et al., 2022 ). This result comes per our findings.

Furthermore, barriers and concerns were indicated to be an influential factor and may determine students’ intentions to adopt PGx in their future clinical profession, especially those related to PGx testing cost, lack of reimbursement, and data privacy issues. Based on the literature, data privacy and results’ confidentiality are the most cited issues. Indeed, some studies pinpointed that the main concerns refer to data privacy and results’ confidentiality and others focused more on PGx logistics including costs, lack of trained personnel, and lack of complete clinical guidelines ( Bank et al., 2018 ; Cheung et al., 2021 ). In the Netherlands, Bank and coworkers, 2018 showed that 72% of the participants expressed their concern about data use and the chance of being provided to unauthorized individuals while 88% believed that PGx testing results could provoke psychological distress to patients ( Bank et al., 2018 ).

A study conducted by Cheung and coworkers, in 2021 had also come up with relevant results in Hong Kong ( Cheung et al., 2021 ). Nonetheless, Koufaki and coworkers, 2022 stated that Greek students worried more about PGx cost and the lack of complete clinical guidelines while their Malaysian counterparts were concerned about data privacy ( Koufaki et al., 2022 ). In the aforementioned study, it was implied that the difference between the two students’ cohorts was the cultural context because the local legislation and directives had affected students’ perceptions. In the present analysis, though, we did not notice extreme differences even if we investigated a highly diverse and multinational environment. The UAE is a cosmopolitan with diverse ethnicities from almost all over the world, working and studying together in an inclusive environment and respecting high standards of understanding and tolerance.

Finally, as far as respondents’ willingness to implement PGx in their professional lives, our findings come following the literature. Based on Arafah and coworkers, 2022 study, 61.2% of pharmacy students were interested in a PGx-related course or seminar ( Arafah et al., 2022 ). The vast majority expressed an interest in participating in genetic research, and they were willing to undergo PGx testing, too ( Arafah et al., 2022 ). Jarrar and coworkers, 2019, concluded with similar results; around 93% of pharmacy students were willing to learn more about PGx testing, whereas 31% opted to pursue a postgraduate program in the field ( Jarrar et al., 2019 ). Finally, in a study that was conducted among professional pharmacists and pharmacy students in Lebanon, 62% of participants were interested in learning more about PGx while in Croatia, the majority of students (dental, medicine, pharmacy) were willing to undergo a PGx test, a finding that is close to our results ( Bukic et al., 2022 ; Mehtar et al., 2022 ).

Limitations

This study has a few limitations. The survey was conducted among undergraduate students of the University of Sharjah and it did not include any other UAE university. To overcome this limitation, surveys were distributed to four different colleges to broaden our research sample. Questionnaires were distributed online and not via direct contact. This fact might lead to response bias but it is not shown to have such case in our analysis. Furthermore, the response rate was estimated at 30%. This rate was low but the total sample is sufficient to get results with significant statistical power. Finally, students came from different academic background and this was not taken into consideration in the scope of this analysis to identify any differences.

PGx is a hot topic of personalized medicine with great clinical applications. Implementation of PGx in healthcare systems remains a major challenge. The adoption rate of PGx is quite low worldwide and also in the UAE. A key factor for expanding PGx application in the clinical practice is based on the involvement of healthcare professionals. The future generations of UAE healthcare professionals in this study were shown to be aware of PGx and had a good level of knowledge. Their attitude towards PGx was positive and a great percentage of them planned to incorporate PGx testing in the clinical routine, while they were more than willing to undergo a relevant test for themselves. Moreover, the respondents expressed their opinions and concerns about the most commonly shared barriers and challenges related to PGx testing. The cost of PGx testing, lack of specialized personnel, and data confidentiality were found to be the most important challenges for PGx clinical implementation. In future research, the impact of demographics including gender, academic background, and year of study on students’ intentions to adopt PGx in clinical practice will be investigated further.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/ Supplementary Material , further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Ethics statement

The studies involving humans were approved by the University of Sharjah Research and Ethics Committee. The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author contributions

HA-S: Data curation, Methodology, Writing–original draft. MOA: Data curation, Methodology, Writing–original draft. MR: Data curation, Methodology, Writing–original draft. TM: Data curation, Methodology, Writing–original draft. M-IK: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data curation, Formal Analysis, Validation, Visualisation, Writing–review and editing. IK: Software, Formal Analysis, Validation, Writing–original draft. FM: Software, Formal Analysis, Validation, Writing–original draft. GPP: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing–review and editing. MS-A: Conceptualization, Methodology, Funding acquisition, Resources, Supervision, Writing–review and editing.

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. MS-A is funded by a collaborative grant provided by the University of Sharjah (Project No. (#2001090279).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2024.1377420/full#supplementary-material

Abbreviations

ADR: Adverse Drug Reaction; AGFI: Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index; CFA: Comparative Factor Analysis; CFI: Comparative Fit Index; CMIN/DF: Chi-square statistics/degree of freedom; GFI: Goodness of Fit Index; NFI: Normed Fit Index; PGx: Pharmacogenomics; PGFI: Parsimony Goodness of Fit Index; RFI: Relative Fit Index; RMSEA: Root Mean Square Error of Approximation; SD: Standard Deviation; TLI: Tucker–Lewis index; TPB: Theory of Planned Behavior; UAE = United Arab Emirates; UoS = University of Sharjah.

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Keywords: ADR, adverse drug reaction pharmacogenomics, undergraduate students, questionnaire, attitudes, intentions to adopt

Citation: Al-Suhail H, Omar M, Rubaeih M, Mubarak T, Koufaki M-I, Kanaris I, Mounaged F, Patrinos GP and Saber-Ayad M (2024) Do future healthcare professionals advocate for pharmacogenomics? A study on medical and health sciences undergraduate students. Front. Pharmacol. 15:1377420. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1377420

Received: 27 January 2024; Accepted: 26 March 2024; Published: 11 April 2024.

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Copyright © 2024 Al-Suhail, Omar, Rubaeih, Mubarak, Koufaki, Kanaris, Mounaged, Patrinos and Saber-Ayad. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Maha Saber-Ayad, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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• In 1930, Pirogov Medical University organized the World’s first pediatric faculty.
• In 1963, Pirogov Medical University organized the World’s first biomedical faculty.
• In 2010, Pirogov Medical University received the status of National Research University.
• Presently, more than 8,000 students are studying at Pirogov Medical University, out of which about 700 are international students.

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Mbbs program, admission & support, medical licensing examination support, student life.

Founded in 1906 in the city of Moscow, Pirogov Medical University—officially known as Russian National Research Medical University named after N. I. Pirogov— is one of the oldest medical universities in Russia.  The first lecture took place on September 26, 1906, with 206 students, and the first graduation ceremony was celebrated in 1912. 

Focused on constantly improving the quality of education, the University entered the list of Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings in 2019. 

The University claims to be the first university in Russia that started offering medical education to women in the Russian Federation. Among all milestones achieved by the University, two most celebrated achievements are that Pirogov Medical University created the world’s first pediatric faculty in 1930 and the world’s first biomedical faculty in 1963.

To provide students and visitors a glimpse into the decades of the glorious history of the University, Museum of the History of Pirogov Medical University was established in 1981, which continues to capture astonishing achievements of the University, its students, and members.

The University maintains a leading position in Russia by actively participating in activities of medical research and healthcare and delivering excellence in medical education and care. 

The University independently carries out various research projects in medicine and has received the status of National Research University in 2010. Conducting pre-clinical as well as clinical studies for a better understanding of human diseases, new medicines, and medical devices have been the center of research at Pirogov Medical University.  

To keep the students and healthcare professionals updated on the latest research and innovations in medicine, the University publishes its own scientific journal with articles on biomedical sciences and clinical medicine.

The Library of Pirogov Medical University has a collection of more than 7,50,000 books. Students can also access scientific journals and eBooks through the electronic library system. In collaboration with other universities, academic mobility and exchange programs are also arranged for students to help them get experience in other institutions and build new connections.

For the healthcare of locals, the University operates clinical centers in Moscow. Students are provided hands-on clinical training in these University-operated clinics and also involved in various clinical studies. For world-class training and diverse practical exposure, the University collaborates with more 120 hospitals across the city of Moscow.

Pirogov Medical University started accepting international students in 1959. Until now, the University has trained more than 80,000 doctors. Presently, more than 8,000 students are studying medicine at the University, out of which about 700 are international students.  The University has a strong team of about 2,000 faculty members.

Pirogov Medical University is listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools (WDOMS) and certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), United States of America. Pirogov Medical University is also approved by the Medical Council of Canada (MCC) and the Medical Council of India (MCI). The University offers a 6-Year Program for MBBS in Russia for local as well as international medical aspirants. Students in India, who have qualified NEET, can apply for direct admission to the MBBS Program of Pirogov Medical University.

Pirogov Medical University Faculty of Medicine 1 Ostrovityanov Str Moscow, 117997 Russian Federation

Pirogov Medical University offers a 6-Year MBBS Program in the Russian language. For international students, classes for initial years may be organized in English medium.

The Program for MBBS in Russia is focused on building a strong academic base with a pragmatic approach to education and medical research. To provide hands-on clinical experience, the students studying MBBS in Russia are involved in clinical training from the second year of MBBS. While education in classrooms and laboratories helps the students develop academic skills and sound theoretical understanding, clinical training in University-affiliated hospitals help them apply their knowledge into practice.

To get admission to the MBBS Program of Pirogov Medical University, you can apply online at Rus Education website.

Rus Education is duly authorized by the Russian Centre for Science and Culture (Cultural Department of The Embassy of the Russian Federation in India) to promote Russian Education among Indian Citizens. Rus Education is also an authorized associate of Pirogov Medical University. We facilitate one-window admission to the MBBS Program of Pirogov Medical University with no requirement of any donation or capitation and without any entrance examination.

Pirogov Medical University offers a healthy student life and an opportunity to experience life in Moscow, the capital city of Russia, and also the most vibrant and exciting location in the largest country in the world! 

For affordable accommodation of students and make their living experience safe and better, the University maintains a comfortable dormitory. Every room is shared by two or three students, and each floor has a shared kitchen where students can cook their food. Members of the dormitory help the newcomers to settle in their new homes. For the safety of the students, the University’s security team maintains 24-hour surveillance and is capable of providing emergency response, if required.

To help students adjust to life at university, it has a dedicated Student Support System in place. Every group of new students is assigned to two professors who guide the students not only about studying but about living as well, helping students adjust to the new environment and feel comfortable.

To keep students fit and active, Sports Center on the campus is equipped with facilities to play various sports, including badminton, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, swimming, football, hockey, chess, etc. Student can unleash their creativity by indulging in extracurricular adventures offered by Student Organizations and Societies. On the campus, there are ample opportunities for self-improvement and taking part in music, dance, sports competitions, and theater. 

For peer support, the University has a Student Council in place which offers support in academic as well as non-academic matters making student life stress free.

For the social upliftment and help students connect with the society and local people, they are involved in community and welfare organized by the University, including medical outreach, health awareness programs, and blood donation camps.  The University Volunteer Center organizes a number of volunteer activities to help students contribute to social causes.

Living in Moscow, students can explore its cultural heritage, museums, historic buildings, the world-famous Alexander Garden, and much more. For traveling in Moscow, students don’t face any problems, thanks to its convenient and cheap transportation system, especially the Moscow Metro.

With the charm of Moscow and all the student facilities and support services offered by the University, student life at Pirogov Medical University is a delight.

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Home » Campus Life » Career Education » Get Experience » Undergraduate Research » Undergraduate Scholarly Showcase » 2024 Presentations » Chemical and Cellular Frontiers

Chemical and Cellular Frontiers

Recorded five-minute video presentations for the Undergraduate Scholarly Showcase in Category A: Chemical and Cellular Frontiers, Projects A-01 through A-03.

A-01: Creation of Bimetallic Nanoparticles and the Potential Uses in Medical Environments

Marcus Santoro, Biochemistry Project Advisor: Noe Alvarez Watch presentation

The medical field is constantly expanding with new ways to treat all kinds of issues. Some techniques are more widely known than others, and one that is not as commonly known is the use of nanoparticles. These nanoparticles have shown promise in areas such as biosensing, catalysis, and drug delivery. Bimetallic nanoparticles smaller size provide a large surface area that can produce more effective catalytic properties. The Alvarez lab focuses on the creation of nanoparticles, as well as studying the efficiency of these particles in different environments. The synthesis of these particles can be a time consuming process, and having an extra hand to help create these particles can allow for more time being spent on testing the efficacy of them. The outcome of this research will help increase our knowledge on the most effective nanoparticles and how we can incorporate them in the field of medicine.

A-02: Crafting the Sun's Defense: A Formulation Towards Effective Natural Sunscreen

Elise Armile, Biochemistry Project Advisor: Daniel Waddell Watch presentation

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), sunscreens are nonprescription drugs that "affect the structure or function of the body by absorbing, reflecting, or scattering the harmful, burning rays of the sun, thereby altering the normal physiological response to solar radiation."  The label of a sunscreen bottle offers phrases such as "broad spectrum" and "SPF."  Broad spectrum sunscreens protect the skin from UVA and UVB rays by building a chemical layer that absorbs and reflects the UV radiation while the Sun Protection Factor (SPF) correlates to the level of sunburn protection that the sunscreen delivers.     My research centers around formulating a natural sunscreen made to be simple, non-irritating, but protective against UVA and UVB rays.  Natural sunscreen has become a more popular topic and rising trend due to a larger consumer movement towards "reef safe", "mineral", and plant-based products.  The attraction of products made from naturally derived materials has grown due to social media.      After researching formulations, ingredients, and their benefits, I hope to formulate a broad-spectrum, water-less, natural sunscreen with SPF 40+.  This will be my first time formulating a natural sunscreen, so I look to form a new understanding of sunscreen formulation and gain more knowledge about the differences between natural sunscreens and "chemical sunscreens" (sunscreens containing avobenzone, octocrylene, octinoxate, and oxybenzone).  The outcome of the work will help further my technical innovation in cosmetic science.

A-03: The Role of ADP-ribosylation and its Reversal by ARH1 in the DNA Damage Response

Ian Campbell, Biochemistry Project Advisor: In-Kwon Kim Watch presentation

The pathway for DNA damage response is important to maintain the genomic integrity in humans. Without the repair mechanism, mutated DNA can produce proteins that do not function properly leading to cancer or other conditions. ADP-ribosylation is a reversible post-translational modification (PTM) that involves the addition of one or more ADP-ribose units to target proteins. ADP-ribosylation regulates a wide array of cellular signaling pathways, including DNA damage response. Uncontrolled accumulation of ADP-ribose is cytotoxic, leading to cell death, and therefore dynamic regulation of ADP-ribosylation by ADP-ribosyl-acceptor hydrolases is essential. ARH1 (ADP-ribosyl-acceptor hydrolase 1) is a metalloenzyme that removes the arginine-specific ADP-ribosylations from a modified protein. The goal of my research is to understand its specific interaction with ADP-ribosylated proteins in relation to the DNA damage response. As the first step, using a series of chromatographic steps, I successfully purified recombinant proteins involved in this cycle of ADP-ribosylation by overexpressing them in E. coli and then characterized them.

Syracuse Undergraduate Erin McCarthy Spearheads Study Using Physics Principles to Understand How Cells Self-Sort in Development

A team of biophysicists identified an unexpected collective behavior among particles and their findings were published in the prestigious journal Physical Review Letters.

Erin McCarthy ’23, physics   summa cum laude , is a rarity among young scientists. As an undergraduate researcher in the College of Arts & Sciences’   Department of Physics , she guided a study that appeared in March 2024 in   Physical Review Letters . It is the most-cited physics letters journal and the eighth-most cited journal in science overall.

McCarthy and postdoctoral associates Raj Kumar Manna and Ojan Damavandi developed a model that identified an unexpected collective behavior among computational particles with implications for future basic medical research and bioengineering.

“It’s very difficult to get a paper into   Physical Review Letters ,” said   M. Lisa Manning , co-author, and the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Physics as well as founding director of the   BioInspired Institute   at Syracuse University. “Your scientific peers must judge it as exceptional.”

McCarthy, a New Jersey native, chose Syracuse because of its “tremendous energy,” she said. “The educational and the research side of things was amazing. I came planning to be a physics major who was premed. I loved physics and biology, and I wanted to be involved in healthcare and medicine. And I got lucky in that I met Dr. Manning as a freshman, and she introduced me to computational biophysics. I started in research during my freshman year, which is extremely unusual.”

“Erin learned coding from scratch, and then did hours and hours of simulations, which took a lot of perseverance,” said Manning. “It’s just a fantastic testament to her work ethic and brilliance that this paper appeared in such a prestigious journal.”

The research team used computational physics modeling to figure out the underlying mechanisms that cause particles to sort spontaneously into different groups.

Learning how particles behave in physics models could provide insight into how living biological particles—cells, proteins and enzymes—remix themselves in development.

In the early stages of an embryo, for example, cells start out in heterogeneous mixtures. Cells must self-sort into different compartments to form distinct homogenous tissues. This is one of the major collective cell behaviors at work during development of tissues and organs and organ regeneration.

“Cells need to be able to organize themselves properly, segregating themselves to do their jobs,” said McCarthy. “We wanted to understand, if you remove chemistry and look strictly at physics, what are the mechanisms by which this reorganization can happen spontaneously?”

Previous physics investigations found that particles separate when some receive a jolt of higher temperature. As one population of particles becomes injected with energy at a small scale, it turns active—or “hot”—while the other population is left inactive, or “cold.” This difference in heat causes a reorganization among the two populations. These models are simplified versions of biological systems, using temperature to approximate cellular energy and movement.

“Hot particles push the cold particles aside so they can take over a larger space,” said co-author Manna. “But that only happens when a gap exists between particles.”

Previous modeling identified self-sorting particle behavior at less-packed, intermediate densities.

But the Syracuse team found something surprising. After injecting energy into a population of high-density particles, the hot particles did not shove cold ones around. The hot particles lacked space to do so.

That is important because biological particles—proteins in cells and cells in tissue—typically live in tight, crowded spaces.

“Your skin, for instance, is a very dense environment,” said McCarthy. “Cells are packed so closely together, there’s no space between them. If we want to apply these physics findings to biology, we must look at high densities for our models to be applicable. But at very high densities, the difference in activity between two populations does not cause them to sort.”

There must be some other self-sorting mechanism at play in biology. “Temperature or active injection of energy does not always separate things, so you can’t use it in biology,” said Manning. “You must search for some other mechanism.”

To Manning, this study illustrates the strengths of Syracuse University. “The fact that an undergraduate spearheaded this research speaks to the awesome quality of students we have at Syracuse University, who are as good as those anywhere in the world, and to the exceptionalness of Erin herself,” said Manning.

Manna, the postdoctoral mentor for the last part of McCarthy’s project, was essential in driving it to conclusion. “The study wouldn’t have happened without him,” said Manning. “This demonstrates that we are able to recruit outstanding postdoctoral associates to Syracuse because we are such a great research university.” Manna is now a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physics at Northeastern University.

McCarthy, a research technologist in a biological lab at the Northwestern University School of Medicine, plans to start applying for graduate school.

“At Syracuse,” said McCarthy, “I learned how much I love research and want it to be a part of my future.”

–   John H. Tibbetts