Two junior faculty members were selected for the Dean’s Scholars program, as the first to join the cohort of researchers from the Department of Surgery. Whitney S. Brandt, MD, assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Roheena Z. Panni, MBBS, MPHS, assistant professor of surgery in the Section of Surgical Oncology were among four new inductees for the program that provides junior faculty with funding for two years of research alongside a senior faculty mentor. Each candidate is evaluated based on a proposed project they aim to work on during the period of funding.
The purpose of Brandt’s project is to understand the function of DExH-box helicase 9 (DHX9) protein in squamous cell lung carcinoma and to identify a subset of patients who would respond well to DHX9 inhibition for treatment. Her mentor is Jason Weber, PhD, a Professor of Biology in the Department of Medicine and Cell Biology and Physiology and Co-Director of the Cancer Biology Graduate Program.
Panni’s proposed project explores the diversity of T cells and phenotypic changes, to stimulate immune response to personalized pancreas cancer vaccines, making it a generalizable treatment option for pancreatic cancer patients. Her mentor is David DeNardo, PhD, co-director of the Tumor Immunology Program and Professor of Medicine in the Division of Oncology.
In 2020, the Division of Physician-Scientists established the Dean’s Scholars program as an initiative that would provide funding to nurture the careers junior faculty. The initiative seeks to ease the burden of clinical faculty while they pursue laboratory-based biomedical research.
The Dean’s Scholars program is designed for exceptional MD-only individuals dedicated to becoming physician-scientists. The program offers financial relief, mentorship, institutional backing and protected time to focus on research aimed at producing data and publications. This support positions scholars to be competitive for NIH K08 and similar awards, paving the way for successful careers. Evaluation criteria include the applicant’s research commitment, the quality of their proposal, the strength of their mentorship team, the training environment, and the anticipated impact of the program’s support on their career.
Each department provides a minimum of $50,000 annually in matching support for a Dean’s Scholar salary, or alternatively, toward the scholar’s research. For surgeons, the program provides research time that aligns with the NIH K08 guidelines, which typically requires that no less than half of their time is dedicated to their research. The program facilitates funding and mentorship for up to two years to foster the careers of such individuals while also pushing innovation and new possibilities in medical science in diagnosing and treating patients.