With training in both medical and scientific disciplines, physician-scientists are uniquely prepared to bridge the gaps between clinical patient care and basic science, translational, and clinical research.

The Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, now in its 59th year, has received a five-year, $9.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue its support for 32 students who are training to become physician-scientists. Myles Akabas, M.D., Ph.D., director of the MSTP program and professor in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience and of medicine, is the principal investigator on the grant.

Einstein’s MSTP combines MSTP-specific training with existing medical and graduate courses. Students enrolled in the program are trained to become leaders in biomedical research who understand, detect, treat, and prevent human disease. They graduate from Einstein with both an M.D. and a Ph.D. degree.

The College of Medicine’s over 500 MSTP alumni have published more than 21,000 papers. Seventy-three percent of them work at academic medical centers, research institutes, NIH or pharmaceutical companies. Currently, the program has 124 trainees—44% of them woman, 28% from groups underrepresented in medicine, and 11% with disabilities.