CZ Biohub Announces Inaugural Cohort for Physician-Scientist Fellowship Program and Call for Applications for the Next Competition

The Chan Zuckerberg Biohub has selected eleven early-career physicians at Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco, to pursue their interests in biomedical research through the newly launched CZ Biohub Physician-Scientist Fellowship Program. This new program reflects the CZ Biohub’s approach as a nonprofit research organization that brings together leaders in science and technology to drive discovery and support the bold vision to cure, prevent or manage disease by the end of the century. This program is designed to provide a new opportunity for young doctors to gain immersive experience in laboratory and computational biomedical research, with the long-term goal of fostering the growth of the next generation of physician-scientists.

Physician-scientists are medical doctors with a passion for advancing clinical knowledge and discovery through research. The work of physician-scientists is especially critical in the era of COVID-19 because they are trained in a multidisciplinary approach and are uniquely equipped to ask the questions that connect the clinical care of patients with the biomedical sciences. However, the number of physician-scientist trainees has declined in recent years with many medical students choosing a clinical career path (M.D.) rather than seeking to combine the practice of medicine with a mix of basic or clinical research, such as by pursuing an M.D.-Ph.D.

CZ Biohub’s physician-scientist fellows were chosen from applicants enrolled in a medical residency or clinical fellowship program at Stanford University or UCSF. The awardees will participate in a two- to three-year program, gaining experience in biomedical research with mentorship from faculty members at CZ Biohub’s three collaborating campuses, Stanford, UCSF, and the University of California, Berkeley, and from group leaders at CZ Biohub itself.

“There were many promising and talented candidates in our first competition, which demonstrates a demand for programs that allow young doctors to bridge their interest in research with their clinical training,” said David Cornfield, M.D., the program’s co-director and a professor in pediatric pulmonary medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. “The CZ Biohub Physician-Scientist Fellowship Program gives these early-career physicians a new path to pursue their passion for advancing medical knowledge.”

“Our first cohort is a diverse group of physicians whose expertise ranges from neurology to infectious disease to hematology and oncology,” added Ethan Weiss, program co-director and associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. “Through this program, we are thrilled to cultivate the training and career development of physicians interested in asking probing research questions informed by their clinical experience that address medical challenges and transform patient care.”

In addition to announcing the program’s inaugural class, CZ Biohub has opened the competition to select the next cohort for the CZ Biohub Physician-Scientist Fellowship Program. Applications are currently being accepted now through Oct. 1, 2020. Applicants must be enrolled in or have completed a full-time post-graduate medical training program at UCSF or Stanford, and must hold an M.D., but not a Ph.D. Applicants who have completed post-graduate medical training must hold a full-time appointment at UCSF or Stanford at the time of application and maintain a full-time appointment at either university during the fellowship period. For a full list of eligibility requirements or additional information on the competition, visit https://www.czbiohub.org/psfp.

“At the Biohub, we actively create opportunities for leaders in science to come together and drive discovery, creating new opportunities for collaborative science,” said Stephen Quake, co-president of CZ Biohub. “With the Physician-Scientist Fellowship Program, we hope to nurture future leaders in clinically inspired research. There’s no better champion of the integration of science and clinical practice than the physician-scientist, and we are proud to provide a platform that reduces barriers to those eager to pursue this interest.”

The members of the first-year cohort of the CZ Biohub Physician-Scientist Fellowship Program are:

• Mazin Abdelghany
  Clinical Fellow, UCSF Infectious Diseases
• John Gubatan
  Clinical Fellow, Stanford Gastroenterology
• Anya Levinson
  Clinical Fellow, UCSF Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
• Lara Murphy Jones
  Clinical Scholar, Stanford Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
• Paul Sampognaro
  Clinical Instructor and Postdoctoral Fellow, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences
• Dan Stoltz
  Resident, Stanford General Surgery
• Nina Suresh
  Clinical Fellow, Stanford Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine
• William Temple
  Clinical Fellow, UCSF Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
• Juanita Valdes-Camacho
  Clinical Fellow, Stanford Allergy and Immunology
• Jeffrey Whitman
  Director of Clinical Microbiology, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital (ZSFG)
• Elizabeth (Betsy) Young
  Clinical Fellow, UCSF Pediatric Hematology/Oncology