Finkelstein Memorial Trainee Research Award
The Judy S. Finkelstein Memorial Research Award at the Penn State College of Medicine was initiated in 1974 in memory of Judy S. Finkelstein. The purpose of the award is to encourage basic and clinical research and professional commitment in the study of rheumatologic and immunologic disorders. The Finkelstein Memorial Trainee Research Award is offered to medical and graduate students and trainees at the Penn State College of Medicine performing research on immunologic or rheumatologic disease. Projects involving the study of autoimmunity and or autoimmune diseases are especially encouraged.
Submission information will be posted on PSU InfoReady (psu.infoready4.com/) when applications are being accepted.
Disclaimer: This summary is provided for informational purposes. For complete program details, including eligibility requirements and application submission guidance, please refer to an active RFA or contact the Administering Unit. Active RFAs will always supercede any information contained in this summary.
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Program Overview
Applicants to this program must be a medical or graduate student, resident or fellow (clinical or postdoctoral) at Penn State College of Medicine. Previous recipients of the Finkelstein Memorial Trainee Research Award are eligible to apply, provided their new application includes a statement regarding what was accomplished with the previous support.
- Applicants may request up to $3,000 to be used to support a stipend (Award Option 1) or for expenses to conduct the proposed research and/or travel to scientific meetings (Award Option 2). All funds should be used within 12 months of the start date. Budgets must be prepared according to one of the following options:
- Award Option 1: For this option, a budget must be prepared to indicate that the Award will be utilized as a stipend that will be paid to the applicant as an IRS 1099 taxable award. This option is open to all applicants.
- Award Option 2: For this option, the Award is budgeted to the department or lab of the applicant’s primary research mentor as non-taxable funds to be used for supplies and materials to conduct the proposed research and/or travel to scientific meetings. A budget must be prepared detailing the use of the funds (cost of supplies/materials, travel, etc.). This option is only available for projects that utilize Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center/Penn State College of Medicine as the performance site.
- The research project must involve basic, clinical, translational, health services or population-based research related to the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of rheumatologic or immunologic diseases. Projects involving the study of autoimmunity and or autoimmune diseases are especially encouraged.
- The applicant must identify a primary research mentor who is a full-time faculty member at Penn State College of Medicine to provide advice and assistance in the conduct of the proposed research.
Applications will be reviewed by the Finkelstein Advisory Committee with respect to both responsiveness to the program guidelines and scientific and technical merit. Applicants will be notified regarding the status of their application prior to the anticipated start date.
Previous recipients of funding from the award are listed here.
| Year | Awardee | Primary Department | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Kashif Ahmed Shaikh | Microbiology and Immunology | ZFAND6 is a novel negative regulator of inflammation |
| 2023 | Juliana Restrepo | Microbiology and Immunology | Investigating the role of IL-1B in mediating B and T cell interactions |
| 2023 | Siddarth Sunilkumar | Cellular and Molecular Physiology | Role of REDD1-mediated renal immune response in Diabetic |
| 2023 | Lida Wang | Public Health Sciences | Dissecting systemic lupus erythematosus associated genetic loci at single cell |
| 2022 | Katelyn Baggett | Medicine | Association of Early Nutrition Practices and Prevalence of Juvenile |
| 2022 | Elise Rizzi | Pediatrics | Evaluating Errors in Inpatient Pediatric Diabetes Care |
| 2022 | Julia Weber | Microbiology and Immunology | Investigating the Role of B Cell Metabolism in Promoting SLE Autoimmunity |
| 2021 | Katelyn Ayers | Microbiology and Immunology | Classifying the Antibody Response to MuPyV in the Absence of CD4 T Cell Help |
| 2021 | Jacob Colello | Medicine | PRIMO: Penn State Registry of Inflammatory Myopathies |
| 2021 | Monica Manglani | Penn State MSTP Program | Immune-Pathogen Interplay In Neonatal Sepsis: An Evolving Landscape in the Time of COVID-19 |
| 2020 | Kristen Bricker | Microbiology and Immunology | Determining the B cell intrinsic role of miR-21 in promoting sustemric lupus erythematosus |
| 2020 | Chachrit Khunsriraksakul | Bioinformatics and Genomics, MD/PhD Program | Application of genetic risk score to Lupus diagnosis |
| 2020 | Natella Maglakelidze | Dermatology/Microbiology and Immunology | Aire-dependent regulation of autoimmune mediated hair loss and regeneration |
| 2019 | Adam Fike | Microbiology and Immunology | Examining the role of IRF7 in the development of autoimmune germinal centers |
| 2019 | Heather Ren | Microbiology and Immunology | Defining IL-21 as the CD4 T Cell Help for CD8 Differentiation in Polyomavirus Encephalitis |
| 2018 | Sathi Babu Chodisetti | Elucidating the distinct immunological pathways that regulate autoimmune and pathogen-induced immune responses in lupus-prone mice | |
| 2018 | Robert Feehan | Examining the molecular basis of AIRE (autoimmune regulator) in skin inflammation | |
| 2017 | Taryn Mockus | Neuroscience PhD program | Defining the role of CD8 T cells in the pathogenesis of mouse polyomavirus infection in the brain |
| 2017 | Praneet Sandhu | Biomedical Sciences PhD program | Use of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived regulatory T cells for rheumatoid arthritis therapy |
Administering Unit
- Research Development – College of Medicine
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