New NIH-funded program aims to grow pipeline of students in aging research across Texas
Original story: UT Health San Antonio Newsroom
Shared By: Claire Kowalick
SAN ANTONIO (September 3, 2025) — A new multi-site, eight-week research program aims to engage first-year medical students interested in aging medicine. The Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies at The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center received National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding this year for The University of Texas Medical Student Training in Aging Research (UT-MSTAR) Program, which is under the direction of Elena Volpi, MD, PhD, FGSA, director of the Barshop Institute, Sam and Ann Barshop Endowed Chair in Clinical and Translational Research in Geriatrics and professor in the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology and Palliative Medicine.
The program, supported by a T35 grant from the National Institute on Aging, involves the four largest medical schools in Texas: Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT San Antonio; McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston with site director Holly Holmes, MD, MS, AGSF; John Sealy School of Medicine at The University of Texas Medical Branch with site director Erin Hommel, MD; and The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School with site director Ambarish Pandey, MD.
The population of older Americans is growing rapidly and becoming progressively more complex, increasing the need for multifaceted and innovative geriatric research and medical care. Yet the number of medical school graduates who select geriatrics or want to become clinicians-scientists in aging is low. By exposing first-year medical students to high-quality, exciting research on aging, led by accomplished mentors in a nurturing environment, the UT-MSTAR program provides an early opportunity for students to develop genuine interest and skills that steer them toward a career in aging research and geriatrics.
Story continues: