ABSTRACT This proposal for continuation of a short-term summer research training program for pre-matriculating and matriculated medical students at LSUHSC-New Orleans, Medical Student Alcohol Research Internships (MSARI) builds on the success of the previous funding cycle. We propose to support seven students to work with alcohol researchers within the Department of Physiology, Comprehensive Alcohol Research Center (CARC; P60), and the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center of Excellence (ADACE). The experience is designed to introduce medical students to research, cultivate their interest in research, and develop a better appreciation of the significant impact of alcohol use as a behavioral and environmental factor in comorbidity risk. Students will conduct intensive hands-on basic science or translational research for 8-10 weeks in the summer prior to entering Medical School or between their L1 and L2 years. Students will be peer-mentored by PhD candidates and post-doctoral fellows supported by the NIAAA-funded T32, providing an important mentoring opportunity for our senior trainees. The goals of this program are to 1) provide medical students with research experiences; 2) provide students with strong career and research mentoring; 3) increase the participation in research by women and students traditionally underrepresented in biomedical research; 4) provide summer interns with the career skills needed to succeed in academic medicine. In addition to their research experience, students will receive didactic training on lab safety, responsible conduct of research, rigor and reproducibility, HIPPA, use of animals in research, and instruction on writing abstracts and presenting research results (oral and poster presentations). All participating students will prepare a poster presentation for LSUHSC School of Medicine (SoM) Research Day. Outstanding trainees will have the opportunity to submit abstracts to regional or national scientific meetings and will receive partial support from the SoM Dean’s office to attend and present their work. In addition, the LSUHSC Chancellor will provide support for reagents and supplies directly to mentors participating in the program. We are committed to recruiting individuals underrepresented in biomedical research. The impact of the program will be assessed at the trainee and mentor level by surveys deployed at the end of the summer experience. In addition, we will conduct formative and summative evaluations concerning the entire program and will continuously evaluate the need for programmatic changes to improve and refine the program to better meet student needs. Lastly, working with the Office of Student Affairs, we will continue to track progress of MSARI participants to measure the long-term impact of their summer experience on career choices and research participation. This program leverages the outstanding scientific infrastructure provided by the NIAAA-funded Comprehensive Alcohol Research Center, will help create the next generation of alcohol researchers, and will prepare physicians to recognize and treat alcohol use disorders and associated comorbidities.

Project Narrative ______ The Medical Student Alcohol Research Internship (MSARI) at LSUHSC-New Orleans is designed to cultivate student interest and aptitude for scientific research careers by preparing them to work on innovative research projects related to alcohol use disorder (AUD) and alcohol-related diseases. This program will equip the next generation of physician-scientists to conduct the translational research that can transform basic science discoveries into new clinical therapies for AUD-related conditions.