Research & Innovation
Moving Medicine Forward
The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) is home to more than 3,000 people dedicated to scientific research, studying common and rare illnesses, from cancer and heart disease to Parkinson’s and pandemic influenza. These efforts have led to therapies that have saved countless lives and improved human health locally, in the region, and across the globe.
Over the last five years, URMC has garnered more than $1.18 billion in biomedical research funding, landing the University in the top 26th percentile of U.S. medical centers in federal research funding. Coupled with one million square feet of state-of-the-art research space, and high-end support services and shared resources, we’re building upon this strong legacy of research every day.
Explore the impact of our research and latest research news.
Medical Student Research
Levitan Fellowship
Funded by a $1.5 million dollar gift to the medical school, the Alexander and Lucy Levitan Endowment for Medical Student Research Fellowships were established to support intellectual curiosity in medical students through a year out research experience. Awarded based upon the merit of the research project and financial need, three students annually will receive a stipend and additional financial support and will be designated Levitan Fellows. Research projects can be in the areas of basic science, clinical or health services.
Academic Research Track
The Academic Research Track (ART) is a program for medical students considering a research experience as part of their education or career. ART is a combination of educational modules and funded, mentored research. Taught in small seminars, modules introduce research concepts including formulating a research question, measurements, data gathering and presentation, obtaining research funding and writing for publication. There is also a module on mentoring and being mentored. These dynamic sessions help students think about science as they plan for a mentored research experience often following the second or third year of medical school. ART is funded in part by the University of Rochester’s Clinical & Translational Science Institute (an NIH-funded enterprise), with additional endowed funding. Applications are competitive for the available slots.
Other Year Out Fellowships
Medical school funded year-out research fellowship opportunities for students interested in conducting basic science, clinical, or translational research are available through the Offices for Medical Education. Projects may be completed at URSMD or elsewhere in the U.S.
Rochester’s Center for Communication and Disparities awards students funding to study the effects of communication in health care settings on patient outcomes.
The school’s CTSA offers competitive NIH funding for medical students to complete year out translational research projects
The David Hamilton Smith Year-Out Fellowship is a year-long opportunity for medical students to do mentored pediatric related clinical, bench, or health services research in an area that matches their personal interests.
Since the founding of the medical school, the year-out Medical Student Fellowship in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine provides students with the opportunity to consolidate their basic science knowledge and experience, conduct in-depth studies in the mechanisms of disease and gain further experience in clinical-pathologic correlations, gain insights into diagnostic medical decision-making while performing duties and accepting responsibilities comparable to those of first-year pathology residents, and participate in clinical or basic research projects. Funding is provided through the Hawkins endowment and the department.
The Offices for Medical Education provide year-out funding and assistance for student research opportunities internationally. Projects can be qualitative, quantitative, social and behavioral, basic science, clinical, or translational.
The funded one-year Fellowship in Medical Humanities (FIMH) offers students flexibility in their study of a healthcare topic within any humanities discipline. Students use materials and methodologies of the humanities disciplines, including literature, fine arts, philosophy, ethics, religious studies, visual and cultural studies, law and history.
Summer Research Fellowships
The E. Cowles Andrus Summer Fellowship for Community Health Improvement offers medical students funding to plan and conduct projects in community health.
The Babigian fellowship funds opportunities to complete research in projects in topics including interpersonal violence and victimization, diversity and community-based research education, and evaluating interventions to prevent mental illness. Students may co-author papers for publication or presentation at national meetings.
Medical school and endowment funded summer research fellowship opportunities for students interested in conducting basic science, clinical, or translational research are available through the Offices for Medical Education. Projects may be completed at URSMD or elsewhere in the U.S.
Rochester’s Center for Communication and Disparities awards students funding to study the effects of communication in health care settings on patient outcomes.
The Offices for Medical Education Summer Community Research Fellowships support students focusing on sustaining the three UR Well Medical Student Free Clinics and the UR Street Outreach Program. Selected students develop a research project that contributes to the sustainability, quality improvement, and initiation of new and innovative ideas for both programs.
Summer research opportunities for students interested in conducting funded research internationally. Projects can be qualitative, quantitative, social and behavioral, basic science, clinical, or translational.
Research opportunities for students interested in ophthalmology research at the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, India are available. Projects focus on teleophthalmology, which is being used across the world especially in low resource areas to increase access to ophthalmic screening and consultation.
Fellowship in Medical Humanities (FIMH) offers students flexibility in their study of a healthcare topic within any humanities discipline. Funded students use materials and methodologies of the humanities disciplines, including literature, fine arts, philosophy, ethics, religious studies, visual and cultural studies, law and history.
This research opportunity focuses on global health neurology research in either Zambia or Malawi, Africa. Research topics include epilepsy, malaria, and neuropathy.
Students collaborate with a faculty member in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department studying chronic pelvic and vulvar pain (CPVP) in patients and their partners.
This research opportunity concentrates on vascular research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Massachusetts with a particular focus on endovascular therapies for aortic aneurysms.
The Schmitt Program offers scholarships for summer research in neuroscience. The goal is to promote the initiation of the scholars’ passion for research on the nervous system and its disorders and to prepare students for a year out of research in medical school within the ART or as part of a MD-MS Program in Medical Neurobiology.
The Paul M. Schyve Center for Bioethics provides summer opportunities two summer medical student fellows. The experience focuses on legal and ethical issues ranging from the care of patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities, gender identity, race, intersectionality, and ethnicity. Working with faculty members, students may complete a publication.
Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD)
Students interested in careers in medical science undertake training in both clinical medicine and research. The Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at Rochester is funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, and provides an outstanding faculty and a wide diversity of research training opportunities found only in our nation's leading biomedical research and clinical training centers.
The medical school fosters student involvement in foundational science, clinical, translational and health outcomes research. Students can utilize the summer after the first phase (year), elective time and an additional year out to pursue these interests. We offer several programs to facilitate student research in addition to working with students to obtain outside funding from various foundations.