New NIH ROC StARR Program Bolsters Residency Research
New National Institutes of Health R38 grant funding expands research opportunities for residents in Medicine, Pediatrics, Medicine-Pediatrics and Dermatology.

The $2.1 million award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) aims to train a diverse pool of physician-scientists to lead the development, implementation and evaluation of new approaches to diagnose, treat and prevent autoimmune, allergic, inflammatory, and infectious diseases across the age spectrum.
According to principal investigator Jennifer Anolik, MD, PhD, chief of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology, the training will be implemented via the newly created ROC StARR program: ROChester Stimulating Access to Research during Residency (ROC StARR) Health and Immune Function Across the Lifespan.
“This will be a highly competitive program that supports in-depth research experiences to clinicians early in their careers,” Anolik said.
The program provides residents one to two years of mentored research training designed to ready them for continued study throughout their career. A major goal is to recruit and retain a pool of clinician-investigators with both clinical and research experience necessary to perform high impact biomedical research.
Anolik and collaborators across the institution are fast-tracking this program, to begin July 1, and seeking applications from second-year residents in IM and Pediatrics, and second- or third-year residents in Med-Peds and Dermatology.

Each year, up to four residents from Medicine, Pediatrics, Medicine-Pediatrics and Dermatology will be selected for the R38 program and focus on one of three defined pillars along the full biomedical research continuum: translational bench science, clinical research and trials, and health equity research and implementation science.
This initiative complements existing strong training along the physician-scientist continuum at the University of Rochester including a highly successful Medical Scientist Training Program for medical students and the Rochester Early-Stage Investigator Network (RESIN). It is the University’s first R38 program and fills an important gap to recruit physicians into research during residency, a critical time given its proximity to focused subspecialty training.
The NIH launched its Stimulating Access to Research in Residency initiative in 2017 to help mitigate a shortage of physician-scientists nationwide. It provides financial support for medical residents to dedicate up to two years for research.
Selected residents will engage in a mentoring program tailored to their skill level and growth, with protected research blocks during their residency program and an additional year focused on research guided by a team of 35 multidisciplinary faculty preceptors conducting research on inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases.
Research pillar leads include Laurie Steiner, MD, of Pediatrics, and Ben Korman, MD, of Medicine, for translational research; Angela Branche, MD, and David Dobrzynski, MD, of Medicine and Julie Ryan Wolf, PhD, MPH, of Dermatology, for clinical research; and Edith Williams, MS, PhD, of Public Health and Medicine, and Cynthia Rand, MD, MPH, of Pediatrics, for health equity research.
Selected R38 Scholars are later eligible for early career development awards through the NIH’s prestigious K38 program.
The multidisciplinary training program includes collaboration across multiple departments and specialties led by co-PIs Anolik and Kirsi Jarvinen-Seppo, MD, PhD, of chief of pediatric AI, along with: Candace Gildner, MD, PhD, director of Pediatric Residency Research Track, who will serve as associate director of the program; Amy Blatt, MD, director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program; Erica Miller, MD, director of the Med-Peds Residency Program; Caren Gellin, MD, director of Pediatric Residency Program; and Mary Gail Mercurio, MD, director of the Dermatology Residency Program.
An internal advisory committee is comprised of Richard Insel, MD, of Pediatrics; Karen Wilson, MD, MPH, vice chair of Research Pediatrics and co-director of Clinical & Translational Science Institute; Stephen Hammes, MD, PhD, chief of Endocrinology and executive vice chair of Medicine; and Lisa Beck, MD, of Dermatology.