Press Release

August 9, 2006
Contact: Kaylyn Kendall Dines
(973) 972-3000, or
Melissa Campbell (732) 236-1569

UMDNJ Medical Students Present Research
Findings Aug. 10th and 15th in Newark

NEWARK — Medical students will make presentations and explain the outcomes of studies they conducted during a summer research program at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

The presentations will take place during two ‘Poster Day’ sessions that will be held on Thurs., Aug. 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and on Tues., Aug. 15, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, 185 South Orange Ave., Newark.

As part of their participation in the Summer Student Research Program at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, students conducted studies under the direction of medical school faculty. Their work ranges from the impact of stem cells on spinal cord injuries to understanding the causes of low-birthweight babies and other cutting edge research.

The aspiring physicians who will present on Thursday will showcase their research during the “Heart, Lung and Blood Student Research Symposium” and on Tuesday other medical students will present their findings during a Cancer Education Program. Dr. Pranela Rameshwar, associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, will discuss the “Relationship Between Stem Cells and Cancer Cells” during the program.

The Summer Student Research Program, which is a two-month program, was designed to provide medical students with an opportunity to learn how to conduct research, to participate in a clinical investigation and identify faculty mentors.

This is the 38th year that the Summer Student Research Program has been offered to students at UMDNJ. Since its inception, more than 3,100 students have completed the program. A compendium of research abstracts is published each year by the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School.

Training grants from the National Institutes of Health; National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and funding from Johnson & Johnson, Arnold P. Gold Foundation, the Foundation at UMDNJ, and the Alumni Association at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School made this opportunity available for the students.

Media is welcome to attend the presentations and meet with students. For more information, call Melissa Campbell at (732) 236-1569.

UMDNJ is the nation’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and a school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.