Student Council

The MSTP student body is intimately involved with the administration of the Program. The MSTP Student Council is elected by popular vote at each MSTP Annual Retreat and is comprised of a president, the past president, various chairpersons, and representatives to medical school committees and the American Physician Scientist Association (APSA). The Council conducts meetings open to the Program regularly throughout the year.

Responsibilities of the Council include many essential programmatic functions, including admissions interview weekends and Revisit Weekend, co-curricular activities, and social events. The Student Council also participates in recruiting, programmatic advancement, science education, and many other activities.

President

Hannah Bell, G5

Convenes meetings of the student body and Student Council. Coordinates the various council activities and initiatives. Leads issues of programmatic advancement.

Past President

Aditi Misra, G4

Advises the student council and chairs the Medical Scientist Research Symposium for the following year.

Chairpersons

Admissions Co-Chairs

Karl Foley, G4; Catherine Pizzarello, G3

Aid in coordinating applicant interview weekends and represent applicants on the MSTP Admissions Committee. Organize Revisit Weekend for accepted applicants.

Events Co-Chairs

John Bennett, G2; Alan Finkelstein, G2

Organizes the Dinner Seminar Series each semester and the MSTP Annual Retreat. Also organizes the Tri-Institutional MD/PhD Program Conference every third year.

MSRS Chair

Brendan Whitelaw, G4

Organizes and coordinates annual Medical Scientist Research Symposium (MSRS). Requests nominations for keynote speakers from MSTP student body. Invites speakers two years in advance.

Public Relations Chair

Zachary Christensen, G3

Maintains and distributes minutes from Student Council meetings, maintains program social media pages & assists in Newsletter preparation

Outreach Chair

Bryan Redmond, G1

Works closely with the Program Director to promote awareness among undergraduate and high school students about biomedical/ translational sciences and opportunities afforded by MD/PhD training.

Social Chair

Alison Livada, G1

Organize and coordinate regular programmatic social events. Also organize the annual winter holiday party and assist with the annual graduation brunch.

Information Technology Chair 

Emily Isenstein, G1

Responsible for training people on the use of and helping to maintain the MSTP Red Cap account. This enables those in the MSTP and the administration to send out surveys and maintain the data longitudinally. The chair will be in charge of finding other technologies to help more efficiently run and advance the program. The chair will give updates on new technologies and their implementation as necessary to the student council.

Representatives

APSA Institutional Representative

Aditi Misra, G4

Represents the MSTP at annual regional and national conferences of the American Physician Scientist Association.

Honor Board

Adam Geber, G1; Mike Sportiello, G2

Attend regular meetings of the Honor Board and serve as a resource to MSTP students for ethical and professional issues.

Medical School Curriculum Committee

CC3/4 Representative(s): Scott Friedland, PhD, M4

MS2 Representative: Gavin Piester, M2

MS1 Representative: Hayley Chang, M1

Represent MSTP students at regular meetings of the Medical School Curriculum Committee. Responsible for ensuring that MSTP educational interests are represented in the MD curriculum.

Wellness and Resilience Committee Representative

Colleen Schneider, PhD, M3

Represent the MSTP in the Wellness and Resilience Committee. They will offer the collective voice and opinions of members of the MSTP to the committee, to help assure that any needs uniquely required of those in the program are considered by the committee. The representative will also report any relevant updates from the committee back to MSTP student council. The representative will also be responsible for gathering/maintaining relevant data on those in the program to make sure we’re maintaining overall student wellbeing.