This is a new 12-week research program designed exclusively for Ohio State University medical students, providing foundational training and research opportunities in immunology and virology. The program is supported by 38 outstanding faculty mentors, including 21 physician scientists, across four domains: Transplant Immunology, Immuno-Oncology, Virology, and Autoimmune Disease. Ohio State is one of only six institutions nationwide to be awarded an NIH T35 program through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The program aims to expand the immunology and virology trained physician and surgeon scientist pipeline by enhancing:
- immunology and/or virology knowledge, skillset, and research experience,
- exposure to impactful mentors leading cutting-edge immunology and virology research,
- access to physician scientist role models, and
- peer mentorship by MD-PhD students, residents, and fellows pursuing medical research careers.
The program offers a competitive stipend, travel funds, and summer tuition support. Additionally, up to two students may continue their research through a funded one-year research leave of absence.
2026 NIH STRIVE T35 Cohort with Primary Investigators
For more information, please read our news article on the New NIH-supported training program.
Program overview
- Slots available: 8
- Stipend: $7,197 for 12 weeks for summer 2025 (subject to change based on annual NIH predoctotal stipend amount)
- Travel Stipend: $1,000
- Required interview with program leaders, then you will be matched with a preceptor with similar interests after applying
- Only in the areas of Immunology and Virology (Cancer Immunology, Transplant Immunology, Autoimmunity, and Virology).
- Limited to the 38 pre-identified mentors
- Primarily Basic and Translational Research
- Required Training of 8 hours, including Responsible Conduct of Research, Research Rigor and reproducibility, Immunology seminars, and Physician Scientist Career development
- Required 4 hours of Clinical Experiences
- Students who apply for the T35, but are not selected, will automatically be considered for the MDSR program
- Program Milestones:
- Kick-off at the beginning of May 2025
- Checkpoint surveys and compliance with research ethics and ethics training
- Final research report in September 2025
- Participation in the final Research Symposium
- Provide STRIVE trainees with short-term research training and experiences that increase medical student exposure to impactful mentors leading cutting-edge immunology and virology research and their clinical applications
- Enhance medical student awareness of the diversity of medical research careers.
- Expose STRIVE trainees to OSUCOM physician scientist role models
- Facilitate peer mentoring of STRIVE trainees by MSTP students and residents and fellows in COM research training programs(PSTP, SSTP and MMSP)
- Inspire medical students to pursue more in-depth immunology and virology research training during medical school, residency, and/or fellowships
- Increase the number and diversity of medical students who pursue immunology and virology related physician scientist careers
| STRIVE T35 training elements | Timeline and number of experiences required | Number of hours | Instructors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-training preparation (Mentor supervised T35 application including mini-grant proposal, development of individualized training goals/plan) |
Before summer research training begins | Varies, Estimated 6–10 hrs | T35 PDs: Kaffenberger, Oestreich; T35 Faculty Mentors |
| STRIVE-T35 Orientation (Mentor/Mentee Preparation, Program Overview & Expectations) |
Before summer research training begins | 1 | T35 PDs: Kaffenberger, Oestreich, Bumgardner |
| Mentored Laboratory Experience (Immunology/Virology Concepts, Lab Techniques & Skills, Data Analysis, Interpretation & Presentation, Applied Biostatistics) |
Weeks 1 through 12 | 12 weeks (38–40 hrs/wk) | T35 Faculty Mentor |
| Responsible Conduct of Research | Weeks 2–3 (2 small group discussions) | 2 | Dana Howard, PhD |
| Research Rigor & Reproducibility | Weeks 6–7 (2 small group discussions) | 2 | T35 PDs: Kaffenberger, Oestreich, Bumgardner & MSTP/PSTP faculty & trainees |
| Immunology/Virology Seminars & Conferences | Weeks 8–9 (2 research conferences) | 2 | Ohio State University Faculty and Visiting Professors |
| Immunology/Virology related Clinical Experiences | Weeks 9–10 (2 required, 2 hours each) | 4 | T35 Faculty |
| Physician Scientist Career Development | Weeks 5 and 11 (2 - T35 lunch discussions) | 2 | T35 PDs: Kaffenberger, Bumgardner, and other T35 Faculty |
| STRIVE T35 Program Wrap-Up, Exit Interviews and Survey | Week 12 (1 in-lab hr) | 1 | T35 PDs meet with mentors and trainees in lab: Kaffenberger, Oestreich, Bumgardner |
| STRIVE-T35 Final Research Symposium with Lunch | After summer research ends | 4 | T35 PDs, Mentors, and Trainees |
Total number of summer training hours that occur out of the lab: 12
How to apply and requirements
- Complete Phase 1 Application by December 8th 2025
- Participate in program/mentor interviews in December 15th-19th 2025
- Complete Phase 2 Application (with matched T35 mentor) by January 12th 2026
- Award Notifications in early April 2026
- Kick Off early May 2026
Questions? Please contact Jessica Almikhi T35 Program Manager at Research.Education@osumc.edu
Primary Investigators
Ginny L. Bumgardner, MD, PhD, FACS
- Professor of Surgery Comprehensive Transplant Center Associate Dean for Research Education Director, Masters of Medical Science Program Director, Dept. Surgery Research Training Program Co-Program Director STRIVE T35
Benjamin Kaffenberger, MD, MS, FAAD
- Associate Professor of Dermatology Director, Medical Student Research Program Vice-Chair Research, Department of Dermatology Co-Program Director STRIVE T35
Ken Oestreich, PhD
- Associate Professor of Microbial Infection & Immunity Director Immunology and Immunotherapeutics Graduate Program Co-Program Director STRIVE T35
Mentors by specialty
Joshua Englert, MD
Associate Professor
Acute respiratory distress syndrome, ventilator induced lung injury
Latha Ganesan, PhD
Associate Professor
FC-gamma receptor biology/immunology, liver cell immunity, kidney immunopathology
Kymberly M. Gowdy, MS, PhD
Associate Professor
Environmental exposures, lung disease, innate immunity, lipid metabolism
Willa Hsueh, MD
Professor
Microbial infection and immunity, diabetes mellitus; complications and diabetic mellitus; hypertension
Wael Jarjour, MD
Professor
Autoimmunity
Benjamin Kaffenberger, MD, MS
Associate Professor
Autoimmunity
Pei-Hui Lin, PhD
Associate Professor
Immune modulation in tissue injury and repair
Rama K. Mallampalli, MD
Professor
Ubiquitin mediated proteolysis, inflammation, acute lung injury
Phillip Popovich, PhD
Professor
Neuroimmunology and spinal cord injury, neural regeneration and plasticity, neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
Sakma Smith, MD
Associate Professor
Cardio-oncology, myocyte biology
Benjamin Segal, MD
Professor
Neuroimmunology
Yutong Zhao, MD, PhD
Professor
Acute lunch injury, pulmonary fibrosis, sepsis
Irina Artsimotvitch, PhD
Professor
Mechanisms of bacterial and viral RNA polymerases
Robert Baiocchi, MD, PhD
Professor
Lymphoma biology and experimental therapeutics
Aharon Freud, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Human innate lymphocyte
Hazem Ghoneim, PhD
Assistant Professor
Cancer Biology
Zihai Li, MD, PhD
Professor
Immunology and immuno-oncology
Bethany Mundy-Bosse, PhD
Associate Professor
Translational tumor immunology
Kenneth Oestreich, PhD
Associate Professor
T cell biology
Jesse J. Kwiek, PhD
Associate Professor
Virology, public health
Xuefeng Liu, MD
Professor
Stem cells, cancer, viruses
Yohannes Mebratu, DVM, MS, PhD
Assistant Professor
Respiratory Virology
Stefan Niewiesk, DVM, PhD
Professor
Antiviral immunity
Eugene Oltz, PhD
Professor
Gene regulation in immune cells
Linda Saif, PhD
Professor
Virology, viral zoonoses and pathogenesis, mucosal immunity and vaccines
Abhay Satoskar, MBBS, MD, PhD
Professor
Immunology and infectious diseases
Jon Wisler, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Sepsis epigenetic, clinical trials
Jacob Yount, PhD
Associate Professor
Viral immunology
Sylvester Black, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Ischemia reperfusion injury
Ginny L. Bumgardner, MD, PhD
Professor
Transplant immunology
Austin Schenk, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Transplant Immunology
Alan Bryan Whitson, MD, PhD
Professor
Transplantation, ex vivo organ perfusion
Hua Zhu, PhD
Professor
Organ injury, repair and regeneration, stem cell research
Amal Amer, MD, PhD
Professor
Innate immunity in health and disease
Maria Ariza, PhD
Assistant Professor
Viral pathogens
Nicholas Funderburg, PhD
Professor
HIV and cardiovascular disease
Patrick Green, PhD
Professor
Molecular pathogenesis of retroviruses (transcriptional and post transcriptional control)
Tamar Gur, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Microbiome, inflammation, prenatal stress
Courtney Hebert, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Hospital epidemiology, predictive modeling, clinical informatics, secondary use of electronic record data
Willa Hsueh, MD
Professor
Microbial infection and immunity, diabetes mellitus; complications and diabetic mellitus; hypertension