Medical Student Research

We believe that early exposure to cutting-edge research and psychiatric care in clinical settings inspires a new breed of scientists, passionate about helping those with mental illness. The medical student research opportunities in our Department engage scholars in independent projects, and provide an authentic research experience that helps them to define their career goals.

Medical Scientist Training Program

Our faculty members serve as mentors to students in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), sponsored jointly by the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon. Upon acceptance into the program, students consult their career advisor to choose a mentor for their PhD studies and may choose from among our research faculty.

Examples of MSTP Students Mentored by our Faculty

Brittany Chamberlain

Research: Animal models for OCD research

Mentor: Susanne Ahmari, MD, PhD

Kevin Dowling

Research: Integrating genetics and computational neuroimaging to study the underlying circuit biology relevant to cognition and neuropsychiatric disease

Mentor: David Lewis, MD

Longitudinal Research Project

The School of Medicine's Longitudinal Research Project (LRP) is a longitudinal experience throughout the four years of the medical school curriculum in which students engage in a research project under the mentorship of a faculty member. Each student is assigned a LRP Director, who will follow their progress throughout the entire longitudinal LRP experience.

Medical student training opportunities in specific areas of psychiatric research are provided through these programs:

Medical students who want to conduct their scholarly project in other areas of psychiatric research should view our list of research faculty and then contact potential mentors individually.

Roth Fellowship

Beginning in their third year of medical school, students whose Longitudinal Research Projects (LRPs) have a neuroscience focus may be partially sponsored by Loren H. Roth, MD. These students are designated “Roth Fellows” and are provided $500 to use in multiple ways related to the execution of their neuroscience projects. Such students are evaluated by their faculty mentors as part of the overall application process to become a “Roth Fellow”.

We encourage students with such neuroscience research projects to notify their faculty mentors of the Roth Fellowship. Mentors may then contact Dr. Loren Roth directly by email (rothlh@upmc.edu) or by telephone (412-647-4861) to learn more about this opportunity for their respective mentees.