Medical Student Research Fellowship in Pediatric Neuro-Oncology

We are grateful to Jack and Susan Rudin and the Louis and Rachel Rudin Foundation for funding this fellowship, which is intended to help medical students explore a research career in pediatric neuro-oncology. The fellowship program will be based upon an investigative platform having a primary focus on central nervous system (CNS) tumors in children. The research can be variable (i.e. translational, basic science, clinical) and requires a sponsor with a full time faculty appointment at Weill Cornell Medical College, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, or The Rockefeller University. Courses through the Neuroscience Program of Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences will be integrated into the year-long program. The applicant must be in good academic standing at an accredited medical school in North America. For consideration the applicant must be willing to take one year off from their formal academic schedule. The fellowship can be conducted any time after the student has completed a minimum of two years of medical college.

Application materials must be complete no later than December 31 of the year before the fellowship year. Applications will be reviewed by the Fellowship Advisory Panel with announcements being made by March 15 of the fellowship year.

The application consists of the following:
Scientific Proposal (Title, Objective(s), Background, Methods, and Impact: 3-page limit without references)
Letters of reference (2)
Sponsoring PI letter of support
Student affairs or Dean’s letter of commitment from parent institution (which must be an accredited medical school in North America)

Application materials should be emailed to neurosurgery-pedsfellow@med.cornell.edu

If selected for the fellowship, the candidate will be required to sign an institutional commitment letter to accept it.

The Fellowship will provide the awardee a stipend of $32,000 for the research year and will provide support for publication costs, travel, and meeting registration that are directly applicable to the work conducted during the year.

Fellowship Director:
Mark M. Souweidane, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.P.
Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Neurological Surgery
Joan and Sanford I. Well Medical College
525 East 68 Street, Box 99
New York, New York 10065
(212) 746-2363

Fellowship Advisory Panel for the Rudin Foundation Medical Student Research Fellowship in Pediatric Neuro-Oncology:

  • Dr. Ira Dunkel (Department of Pediatrics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)
  • Dr. Jeffrey Greenfield (Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine)
  • Dr. David Pisapia (Department of Pathology, Weill Cornell Medicine)
  • Dr. Praveen Raju (Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine)
  • Dr. Rohan Ramakrishna (Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine)
  • Dr. Vivian Tabar (Department of Neurological Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)

Medical Student Fellows

Alexandra Miner

Alexandra Miner
2022-2023
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Study: Human-Specific NOTCH2NL as an Antisense Oligonucleotide Target in Pediatric Glioma 
Mentor: Viviane Tabar, MD

Previous Medical Student Fellows

Sergio Guadix MD
Sergio Guadix
2021-2022
Weill Cornell Medical School
Mentor: Mark Souweidane, MD

Rachel Yan
Rachel Yan

2020-2021
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Study: Characterizing the Blood-Brain Barrier of Pediatric Brain Tumors
Mentors: Mark Souweidane, MD, and Jeffrey Greenfield, MD,PhD

Samuel Hanz, 2019-2010 Rudin Fellow in Pediatric Neuro-oncology
Samuel Z. Hanz

2019-2020
Boston University School of Medicine
Study: Elucidating the Role of Mini-Chromosome Maintenance (MCM) Protein-Containing Exosomes in Medulloblastoma Progression
Mentor: David Lyden, MD, PhD


Umberto Tosi, 2018-2019 Rudin Fellow in Pediatric Neuro-oncology

Umberto Tosi
2018-2019
Weill Cornell Medical School
Study: Quantitative Evaluation of Advanced Delivery Strategies for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) Using an 18F-PET Labeled Panobinostat Analogue
Mentor: Mark Souweidane, MD

 

Birra Taha, 2017-2018 Rudin Fellow in Pediatric Neuro-oncology
Birra Taha
2017-2018
Weill Cornell Medical School 
Study: Mapping the Spatial Evolution and Genetic-Epigenetic Landscape in Gliomatosis Cerebri
Mentor: Jeffrey Greenfield, MD, PhD

 

Brian De, 2016-2017 Rudin Fellow in Pediatric Neuro-oncology
Brian De

2016-2017
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai 
Study: Patterns of relapse of children with localized intracranial ependymoma 
Mentor: Suzanne Wolden, MD

 

Linda Wu, 2015-2016 Rudin Fellow in Pediatric Neuro-oncology
Yue (Linda) Wu

2015-2016
Weill Cornell Medical School 
Study: Combination Therapy for DIPG 
Mentor: Mark Souweidane, MD

Neurological Surgery 525 E. 68th St., Starr 651, Box 99 New York, NY 10065