Enhancing Virology Training Summer Research Program

The overall goal of “Enhancing Virology Training (ENVIT) through Summer Research” is to prepare and increase the number of underrepresented minority (URM) students in virology-focused careers through didactic, hands-on, mentored, and career-development training.
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Provide students with a 10-week virology research training that include didactic lectures in fundamentals of virology and career-development topics for a virology-focused research and education career.
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Promote evidence-based education in virology by training the students on the methods in fundamental virology research and specialized research techniques in a laboratory setting.
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Engage each student with leading virology researchers (faculty mentor, students, postdoctoral fellows and staff) to stimulate their interest to consider further education and training in the area of virology.
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Develop oral and poster presentation skills of students through scientific presentations of their research internally at MMC Virology Summer Symposium and externally at one national conference.
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Fully Paid Summer Research Experience in cutting edge virology focused research.
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Obtain didactic and hands-on training in basic, translational and/or clinical research.
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Mentored research training in the laboratory of highly accomplished investigators.
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Participate in weekly research seminar series in virology
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Participate in small-group learning sessions in virology
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Improve interview and oral presentation skills
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Training in critical and independent thinking
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Interact with faculty and students at Meharry and Vanderbilt
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Present and participate in local and national meetings on virology focused research
Chandravanu Dash, Ph.D.
MMC
Research Interests:
Retroviral Replication, Antiviral Drug Target
Website >
Chris Aiken, Ph.D.
VUMC
Research Interests:
Molecular Biology of Retroviruses
Website >
Vladimir Berthaud, M.D.
MMC
Research Interests:
Clinical Virology, Clinical Immunology
Website >
James Crowe, M.D.
VUMC
Research Interests:
Vaccines, Viral Immunology
Website >
Mark Denison, M.D.
VUMC
Research Interests:
Viral Replication, Antiviral Drug Development
Website >
Xinhong Dong, Ph.D.
MMC
Research Interests:
Virus Assembly, Budding and Release
Website >
Iveline Georgiev, Ph.D.
VUMC
Research Interests:
Vaccines, Viral Immunology
Website >
David Haas, M.D.
VUMC
Research Interests:
HIV Pharmacogenomics and Clinical Trials
Website >
Spyros Kalams, M.D.
VUMC
Research Interests:
Vaccines, Viral Immunology
Website >
John Karijolich, Ph.D.
VUMC
Research Interests:
Virus Replication
Website >
John Koethe, M.D.
VUMC
Research Interests:
Clinical Virology, Immunology and Clinical Trials
Website >
Bindong Liu, Ph.D.
MMC
Research Interests:
Retroviral Replication
Website >
Simon Mallal, MBBS
VUMC
Research Interests:
Clinical Immunology and Clinical Pathology
Website >
Kristen M. Ogden, Ph.D.
VUMC
Research Interests:
RNA Virus Replication
Website >
Jui Pandhare, Ph.D.
MMC
Research Interests:
HIV-associated Neuronal Dysfunction
Website >
Waldemar Popik, Ph.D.
MMC
Research Interests:
Molecular Virology
Website >
Byeongwoon Song, Ph.D.
MMC
Research Interests:
Viral Replication and Host Factors
Website >
Hua Xie, Ph.D.
MMC
Research Interests:
Viruses and Oral Biology
Website >
Leadership

Chandravanu “CV” Dash, Ph.D.
Program Director

LaMonica Stewart, Ph.D.
Associate Program Director

Jui Pandhare, Ph.D.
Virology Mini-Course Director

Muthukumar Balasubramaniam, Ph.D.
Virology Research Laboratory Training Director

Evangeline Motley-Johnson, Ph.D.
Chair of the Program Advisory Committee (PAC)
Eligibility
Students must be US citizens or permanent residents
Currently enrolled in medical school, dental school, or a PhD graduate program
Have an interest in pursuing biomedical research
Have a minimum cumulative graduate GPA of 3.0
Key Dates
February 5th: Application Deadline
March – April: Notification of acceptance into program
Mid May – July: ENVIT Program

Meet our Scholars
[coming soon]
FAQ
An admissions and selection committee will be responsible for choosing the students who will participate in the summer program based on the application, letters of recommendation, academic performance (GPA), and potential interest in an academic research career.
Students will be asked to rank their top four labs (or research areas) in order of interest on their application form. This information will be used by the admissions and selection committee to match applicants with an appropriate mentor.
Fully Paid Training Program. Travel to and from Nashville, Housing, Subsistence (participants can use to cover cost of transportation, meals, etc.)
Chandravanu “CV” Dash, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Biochemistry, Cancer Biology, Neuroscience and Pharmacology
Phone: 615.327. 6996
Email: cdash@mmc.edu
LaMonica Stewart, Ph.D.