This summer, over 1,200 undergraduate and graduate students came to Massachusetts General Hospital to participate in summer research training programs.

These programs provide students with invaluable exposure to research in an academic medical setting and create new opportunities for learning, networking and mentorship.

We’ve compiled a brief overview of some of these summer research programs and the crucial role they play in engaging the next generation of scientists and fulfilling the hospital’s educational and research mission.

We hope to see some of our summer students back at Mass General in the future as they continue on their scientific journeys.

Summer Research Trainee Program

The Summer Research Trainee Program (SRTP) from the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) was established to inspire students who are underrepresented in medicine (UiM) to consider careers in academic medicine by immersing them in research opportunities.

Over 330 students have participated in the program since it was launched in 1992, including Cesar Castro, MD, MMSc, who is now the Program Director for Gynecologic Oncology at the Mass General Cancer Center and Director of the Cancer Program at the Center for Systems Biology.

“In addition to helping me develop critical research skills in a short time period, SRTP exposed me to great mentors and interdisciplinary collaborators, and taught me the importance of being creative in science,” Castro says. “I felt incredibly supported and came back to finish my fellowship in oncology and now direct the Cancer Program in the MGH Center for Systems Biology.”

COVID Corps Program

The MGH COVID Corps Program was established in the summer of 2020 by the Mongan Institute at Mass General with the recognition that over half of all internship opportunities were cancelled that summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program pairs students with experts in epidemiology, computational biology and immunology, with the opportunity to conduct original investigative research. This year, 15 students participated in the program.

Youth Neurology Education and Research Program

The Mass General Youth Neurology Education and Research Program, which is funded by the Biogen Foundation, provides summer students with the opportunity to take part in a mentored neurology research experience.

The program focuses on providing educational and research opportunities to female, Black, Latinx, American Indian and first-generation youth across Massachusetts. These communities have a large burden of neurological diseases yet are underrepresented in neurology.

There are many other smaller summer research programs taking place throughout research labs and centers at Mass General.

Neurogenetics Undergraduate Summer Research Program

Susan A. Slaugenhaupt, PhD, an investigator in the Center for Genomic Medicine (CGM) and Scientific Director of the Mass General Research Institute, has hosted the Neurogenetics Undergraduate Summer Research Program for students at Eckerd College in Florida for the past 10 years.

Undergraduate students participate in a 10-week research program at labs within the CGM, attend a weekly summer seminar series and deliver presentations on their research at the conclusion of the program.

Students also had the opportunity to learn more about the history of Mass General, ask questions of a panel of graduate students and tour the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard.

Summer Students at the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center

The Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center at Mass General hosted five summer students this year, including one student from the CDI’s Summer Research Trainee Program. Four of the students came from schools in the United Kingdom with ties to Mark Poznansky, MD, PhD, the Director of VIC.

All of the students joined VIC for 12 weeks and were a highly motivated group that integrated well with the center over the summer.

Digestive Disease Summer Research Program

The Mucosal Biology and Immunology Research Center within Mass General for Children hosts a Digestive Disease Summer Research Program that provides support for undergraduate and medical school students to perform independent 10-week research projects on digestive diseases.

The program, which is run by Bryan Hurley, PhD, includes a twice-weekly peer driven biomedical course, a midsummer career advisory panel and an end-of-the-summer research symposium.

“My experience has taught me the value of asking questions and challenging existing dogma,” wrote one participant in an end-of-the-year course survey. “After several failed experiments during my summer work, I realized that the failure was the result of gaps in current knowledge rather than technical error. Experiencing the ins and outs of day-to-day research, I found that science involved much more debate, questioning, and trial-and-error than I realized.”

“My experience taught me that research is a field with endless opportunities; there are always more questions to be asked and new discoveries to be made,” wrote another participant.

“Most importantly, I have learned that research requires determination and stamina as success might not be accomplished as quickly as expected but the rewards are worth the struggles.”

About the Mass General Research Institute
Research at Massachusetts General Hospital is interwoven through more than 30 different departments, centers and institutes. Our research includes fundamental, lab-based science; clinical trials to test new drugs, devices and diagnostic tools; and community and population-based research to improve health outcomes across populations and eliminate disparities in care.
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