The Shapiro Summer Research Program supports UW School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) students in completing a full-time summer research project under the mentorship of a faculty member. The program is generously funded in part by the Herman and Gwendolyn Shapiro Foundation and departments, including the Department of Pediatrics.
SMPH students who have completed their first year of medical school are eligible for the program. About 130 students participate each year. This summer, 16 medical students will be conducting research projects with 11 different Department of Pediatrics faculty members
Pamela Kling, MD, professor, Division of Neonatology and Newborn Nursery, serves as faculty director of student research for SMPH, as well as chair of the Medical Student Research Committee. Kling is responsible for overseeing the single-degree medical student research programs, including the Shapiro Summer Research Program.
Kling has also been involved with the Shapiro Summer Research Program as a faculty member since 2003, the year after the program began. Over the last 20 years, she has seen the program grow from 15% to 75% participation among the first-year medical students.
“The program allows students to follow their own passion: frame their research question, write a research proposal, and perform important research,” Kling explained. “It allows them to challenge themselves in a manner that differs from the rest of their curriculum.”
She added that faculty mentors can gain meaningful benefits from the program as well. “Researchers have the opportunity to work with a curious, motivated, engaged student for 8–10 weeks in the summer,” she said. “These students may help advance and expand upon the mentor’s research.”
Below are the 16 students who will be joining our department this summer and their faculty mentors.
| Shapiro Scholar | Mentor | Project Title |
| Kalifa Wright | James Conway, MD | Using a Process Evaluation to Analyze the Use of a Peer Education Model for Implementing Health Education Among Secondary School Students in Kampala, Uganda |
| Natnael Shiferaw | Norm Fost, MD, MPH | Imminent Death Donation from Pediatric Patients |
| Andrea Gouvea | Bernadette Gillick, PhD, MSPT, PT | Perinatal Stroke: Multimodal Longitudinal Assessment of Infant Brain |
| Gwendolyn Nytes | Bernadette Gillick, PhD, MSPT, PT | Pediatric Teleneuromodulation in Cerebral Palsy: Feasibility and Rural Access |
| Robert Lauer | Matthew Harer, MD | Evaluating Changes in Renal Oxygenation After Caffeine Administration in Preterm Neonates |
| Gabriella Mullally | Matthew Harer, MD | Association of Mean Arterial Pressure with Changes in Renal Oxygenation in Preterm Neonates |
| Ian Rogers | Julie Kessel, MD | Enhancing Neonatal Procedural Simulations: Examining the Role of Experience and Ergonomics in Endotracheal Intubation and Chest Tube Placement Competencies |
| Amy Frenkel | Luke Lamers, MD | Comprehensive Assessment of Aortic Coarctation and its Treatment |
| Gwen Miller | Cathy Lee-Miller, MD | Standardization of Pre-Thiopurine TPMT/NUDT15 Genotyping in all Pediatric Patients with Newly Diagnosed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia/Lymphoma (ALL) |
| Patricia Siy | Cathy Lee-Miller, MD | Compliance with Best Practice Guidelines for Documentation on Paper Roadmaps during Maintenance for Pediatric Patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia/Lymphoma (ALL) |
| Sydney Summerlin | Cathy Lee-Miller, MD | Analysis of Central Line Duration |
| Anna Pearson | Mala Mathur, MD, MPH | Assessing Community Interest and Need of Integrative Health Therapies |
| Sarah El-Meanawy | Mala Mathur, MD, MPH | GPAM Integrative Health Interest in Parents of Pediatric Patients |
| Nyla Mathis | Krisjon Olson, PhD | Impact of Family Composition on Management of Critical Congenital Heart Disease in Pediatric Patients |
| Mary First | Amy Peterson, MD | Trends in Dyslipidemia Severity and Comorbidities in the PPCC |
| Jessica Kain | Rebecca Richards, MD, PhD | Development and Implementation of as Multiparameter Flow Cytometry Panel to Define the Impact of Antigen Density on CAR T-cell Efficacy Against AML |