Global Health Initiative

Mentor Matching Program

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Mentor Matching Program

In the 2024-2025 academic year, the Global Health Initiative (GHI) and the Emerging Infectious Disease and HIV Scholars Program (HEIDS) are piloting a research mentor-mentee matching process that will connect students in the Division of Biology and Medicine to faculty mentors and faculty-mentored research projects in the areas of global health and/or infectious disease.

With over 60 faculty global health affiliated faculty and about 40 past and present HEIDS mentors, the goals of the GHI / HEIDS faculty mentor matching program are as follows:

Connect students to strong faculty mentors and faculty-mentored research projects (both short- and long-term) in global health and/or infectious disease that match their geographic and disciplinary interests, skill levels, and expectations.
Encourage students to find faculty mentors and develop research projects earlier in the academic year, leading to stronger, longer-term mentor-mentee relationships, more rigorous research training, and a more productive research experience.
Assist students to identify the most appropriate intramural and extramural funding sources (below) for their projects, with the guidance of faculty mentors.

While the GHI/HEIDS Research Mentor-Mentee Matching Program does not provide funding, the purpose of the program is to match students and faculty mentors with the ultimate goal of developing successful research proposals for internal and external funding opportunities, including the HEIDS Summer Research Program and the Global Health Scholars Supplemental Travel Grant. The matching program is a service that GHI / HEIDS provides to faculty and students, but faculty and students are also free to find their own mentors and mentees and to apply to appropriate internal and external research opportunities. Students do not need to participate in the research matching program to be eligible for GHI / HEIDS summer funding.

For Students

Eligibility: The GHI / HEIDS Research Mentor-Mentee Matching Program is open to PLME undergraduate students (usually beginning in their sophomore year) and first-year Alpert Medical School students who are interested in global health and / or infectious disease.

Interest Form and Deadline: Interested students should submit the Student Interest Form by October 11th, 2024.

For Faculty

If you are interested in being matching with a Brown PLME of first year medical student interested in global health and/or infectious disease research, please fill out this Faculty Interest Form by October 11, 2024.

Process and Timeline

Mid-August	Student and faculty interest forms go live
October	Student and faculty interest forms due October 11, 2024
October	Students and faculty mentors are matched by GHI / HEIDS staff
November - January	Students and mentors meet to ensure good fit and develop proposal for summer research funding (through SRA, HEIDS, etc). Students pulled off the waitlist, as needed.
February	Students submit proposals for funded summer opportunities. (If the project is not funded, students can still work on the project in a non-funded capacity.)

Student FAQs

The GHI / HEIDS mentor-mentee matching program is only for Brown PLME and first year medical students.

All other students (non-PLME undergraduates, Brown Medical students not in their first year, MPH students, and other students in and outside of Brown), please check out the Global Emergency Medicine Internship Program for an opportunity to be matched with a global health research internship. If you have questions about that program, please contact Oriane Longerstaey, Director of the Global Emergency Medicine Internship Program, at oriane_longerstaey@brown.edu.

Brown medical students of any year can also visit the Medical School Research webpage for more information on finding projects and mentors in many research areas. If you have further questions, please contact Stephanie Garbern, Director of Student Research at Brown AMS (stephanie_garbern@brown.edu).

If you missed the deadline, you can still fill out an interest form, and you will be added to the waitlist if other faculty mentors and projects become available. You can also reach out to global health affiliated faculty directly, and/or connect with Stephanie Garbern, Director of Student Research at Brown AMS (stephanie_garbern@brown.edu), for a list of active, faculty-mentored projects that are open to Brown Medical students.

Suggested Funding Sources

While the GHI/HEIDS Research Mentor-Mentee Matching Program does not provide funding, the purpose of the program is to match students and faculty mentors with the goal of developing successful funding proposals for internal and external opportunities.

Global Health Scholars Supplemental Travel Grant: Supplemental travel stipend for medical students and PLME students who have had successful research grant funding (such as HEIDS, AMS SRA, PLME SRA, PCPM, BTR, etc), and need additional international travel support (up to $2,000).
Emerging Infectious Disease and HIV Scholars Program (HEIDS): Available to PLMEs / 1st year med students. $5,000 stipend. Must be related to HIV and/or emerging infectious disease. Must be a US citizen or green card holder (NIH funded).
Medical School Summer Research Assistantship (SRA): Available to first year medical students. $3,750 stipend.
PLME Summer Research Assistantship (SRA): Available to PLMEs. $3,750 stipend.
Primary Care Population Medicine (PCPM): Summer funding provided to PCPM students.
Basic Translational Research Program (BTR): Must be related to Heart, Lung, Blood (funded by NHLBI). $5,230 stipend. BTR requires in-person didactics.
Global Health Informatics Research Fellowship: One year fellowship for medical students, covering tuition, health insurance, travel support, and monthly stipend.
Global Health Scholarly Concentration - Primarily funded through AMS SRAs.
Other undergraduate opportunities:
- Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards (UTRAs)
- LINK Awards

For additional questions, please contact Laura Pleasants, GHI Program Specialist (laura_pleasants@brown.edu).