link to RWJMS home page
banner
Prospective Graduate StudentsProspective Graduate StudentsProspective Graduate Students
AdmissionsAdmissionsAdmissions
Current Graduate StudentsCurrent Graduate StudentsCurrent Graduate Students
MD/PhD ProgramMD/PhD ProgramMD/PhD Program
Student AffairsStudent AffairsStudent Affairs
GSBS at RWJMS InformationGSBS at RWJMS InformationGSBS at RWJMS Information

Student Profiles

Road Building: Graduate Programs Link Research to Clinical Care (RWJ Medicine)

Ian Rossman: My Story (UMDNJ 2005/2006 Annual Report)

About our Alumni

Ronny I. Drapkin, MD, PhD ‘ 98 Ronny I. Drapkin, MD, PhD ‘ 98, has become a triple threat. An associate pathologist at Brigham and Women‘ s Hospital in Boston , he devotes his time to clinical work, conducts research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute on the origins of ovarian cancer, and was recently appointed an instructor in pathology at Harvard Medical School . While performing his doctoral work, Dr. Drapkin and his mentor, Danny F. Reinberg, PhD, Distinguished University Professor of Biochemistry and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, published their discovery that TFIIH is a transcription factor with dual roles in gene expression and DNA repair. The finding forged an important link to cancer-prone human diseases.
Howard Levene, MD, PhD ‘ 01 The multi-institutional resources in Piscataway made RWJMS the first choice for Howard Levene, MD, PhD ‘ 01. Hoping to use his engineering background to help people, he completed his PhD on guided tissue regeneration under mentor Joachim Kohn, PhD, Board of Governors Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rutgers , The State University of New Jersey. During his doctoral research, Dr. Levene developed his first love for surgery. He later zeroed in on neurosurgery as the most academically stimulating specialty, with the greatest opportunities to apply engineering to a newer field. Dr. Levene is now a fourth-year resident in neurosurgery at Temple University Hospital.
Jeanine D‘ Armiento , MD , PhD ‘ 92 , assistant professor of medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, says her passion for research began in graduate school. Using transgenic mice, she performed her doctoral research with Richard Berg, PhD, professor of biochemistry, which provided novel evidence for the role of collagenase in the etiology of emphysema. As a pulmonary fellow at Columbia , she participated in pioneering research on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, her specialty, and she maintains a small continuing cohort of patients. Her laboratory recently discovered that in emphysema, the pneumocytes secrete a self-destructive enzyme that promotes the disease.
Emilio Mazza, Jr., MD, PhD ‘ 00 Emilio Mazza, Jr., MD, PhD ‘ 00, matriculated at RWJMS with pre-acceptance to the MD/PhD program. A midyear college graduate, he performed his doctoral work in the laboratory of Judith A. Neubauer, PhD, professor of medicine and associate dean for research. She would later mentor his doctoral research on the cellular responses of hypoxia in brainstem cardio-respiratory neurons. “The PhD put me at a definite advantage for Penn‘ s very competitive residency in internal medicine,” he says. In a three-year fellowship, he enjoys basic research, with a “perfect” 80-20 mix of research and clinical work. “MD/PhDs want to connect their clinical and research plans,” he says, “but the degree opens many pathways.”
John F. Schiltz, MD, PhD ‘ 03, completed his doctorate in developmental biology and genetics under Kiran K. Chada, PhD, professor of biochemistry. He applied developmental investigations in knockout mice to the rare human lung disease lymphangioleiomyomatosis. Then, weeks after defending his thesis, his pediatric ward rotation changed his vision of a career in basic science research; he realized that “I love patients.” A few months later, on his psychiatry rotation, he discovered “the final frontier for research: the developing human mind.” As a second-year psychiatry resident at RWJMS, most of his time is consumed by clinical responsibilities –as well as his growing family –while he juggles new opportunities in clinical research.
Genevieve Neal-Perry, MD, PhD ‘ 98 Genevieve Neal-Perry, MD, PhD ‘ 98, discovered neuroscience in her second year at RWJMS, and she recognized that it was tailor-made to meld basic science and clinical work. Under William J. Nicklas, PhD, professor emeritus of neurology, she completed her thesis on mechanisms of neuronal excitotoxicity, and she continues to collaborate with her mentor, Gail K. Zeevalk, PhD, associate professor of neurology. As a fellow in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Albert Einstein School of Medicine, Dr. Neal-Perry has obtained National Institutes of Health funding to investigate the role of the hypothalamus in reproductive aging. “The MD/PhD is a long road,” she says, “but if it helps you do what you love the most, it‘ s well worth the effort!”