Emad Chishti, a fourth-year medical student at the UK College of Medicine-Lexington Campus, spent his year participating in the NIH Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP). Chishti is the first UK medical student to participate in the NIH program.
This prestigious yearlong research immersion program, hosted by the NIH Clinical Center, fosters the development of aspiring clinician-scientists by providing mentored training and opportunities to engage in cutting-edge biomedical research.
Under the mentorship of Sameer S. Kadri, MD, MS, an associate research physician and head of the Clinical Epidemiology Section in the Clinical Center's Critical Care Medicine Department, Chishti conducted a study on hospital resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. His research, titled "Association Between Hospital Type and Resilience During Caseload Stress: A Natural Quality-of-Care Experiment from the COVID-19 Pandemic, 620 U.S. Hospitals, July-November 2021," revealed critical insights into how hospital characteristics impact survival outcomes under pandemic-related strain.
Chishti presented his work at multiple conferences, including the Infectious Diseases Society of America Annual Meeting and the American College of Cardiology Annual Meeting. Chishti, as part of Dr. Kadri’s clinical epidemiology lab, also earned the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Director’s Award for COVID-19 response in 2024.
The MRSP provided Chishti and his peers with unparalleled research opportunities, including personalized mentorship by NIH investigators, interdisciplinary collaborations, and access to NIH’s state-of-the-art resources. The program fosters skills in clinical and translational research while emphasizing the importance of networking and career development through seminars, journal clubs, and national presentations.
This year’s cohort of 52 scholars, representing diverse academic backgrounds, exemplifies the program’s commitment to advancing public health through innovation and scientific inquiry. The program continues to be a transformative experience for its participants, as evidenced by their impactful research and professional growth.
The 2025-2026 MRSP application is open until Dec. 2, 2024. For more details, visit the NIH MRSP website to explore this unique opportunity.
View the MRSP Scholars 2023-2024 Research Compendium here.