STAR Mentor and Research Options

As part of the application process, applicants can request MCG faculty members they would like to work with for the summer if they are accepted into the program.  This allows applicants to request a research area or technique of special interest to them.  Every effort will be made to place accepted STAR participants with a faculty member or area of interest of their choice.  However, in the event that this is not possible, the STAR committee will assign a faculty member as the STAR mentor.

Choices of potential STAR mentors and/or areas of research interest should be indicated and discussed on the application form.

If you have no preference of STAR mentor or area of scientific interest, please indicate this on your application and the committee will make the selection and match you with a STAR mentor.

Where to find STAR Mentor Choices

STAR mentors must hold an academic appointment in the School of Graduate Studies at the Medical College of Georgia. 

To identify faculty members who may be eligible to serve as a potential STAR mentor, you can look through this summarized list of MCG Faculty biomedical science faculty members or scan the following website faculty and research listings:

Biomedical Science Program Websites

• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: Research in this area focuses on important human health problems including drug abuse and its effect of the developing fetus, drug delivery to treat disease, complications of diabetes and aging, sickle cell disease and related thalassemias, stroke and reperfusion injury, and kidney disease.

• Cellular Biology and Anatomy: Research in this area focuses on biomedical problems related to the heart, nervous system, thymus, cardiovascular and neural crest cell development, genetic regulation of development, neurodegenerative diseases, the cytoskeleton and regeneration, special senses, growth factors and cellular signal transduction mechanisms, nuclear structure/function and multi-drug resistance, gastroenterology and vascular biology.

• Molecular Medicine: Research in this area focuses on developmental biology, gene regulation, molecular immunology and cell signaling.

• Neuroscience: Research in this area focuses on knowledge that will reduce the burden of neurological and psychiatric disorders related to the nervous system.

• Oral Biology & Maxillofacial Pathology

• Pharmacology: Research in this area focuses on chemistry, molecular and cellular biology, physiology and behavior with faculty research interests in receptor-associated proteins, cell signaling via G protein-coupled receptors, protein kinases and ion channels and cognitive function in aged primates.

• Physiology: Research in this area focuses on physiological and endocrine sciences and trains students in cellular and molecular biology as applied to the physiological sciences and reproductive endocrinology.

• Vascular Biology: Research in this area ranges from the molecular and genetic level to the regulation of cellular processes, to multi-cellular and organ system regulation, as well as to human studies.

Biomedical Science Institutes and Centers

• Center for Biotechnology and Genomic Medicine: Research at this center focuses their efforts on autoimmunity and immune tolerance, diabetes and its complications, and cancer proteomics.  The CBGM was developed in order to promote interdisciplinary research in genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics.

• Cancer Center

• Georgia Institute for the Prevention of Human Diseases and Accidents: Research at this institute focuses on health promotion and disease prevention, mainly in youth.  The GPI's original focus on hypertension has broadened to incorporate areas including kidney disease, diabetes, congestive heart failure and cancer.

• Immunotherapy Center: Research at the Immunotherapy Center is focused on fundamental mechanisms that regulate immune system activity, which help to prevent autoimmune diseases, but allow tumors and chronic infections to persist.  Research goals are to discover how to manipulate these mechanisms to stimulate the immune system to attack tumors and infected cells, and to prevent the immune system destroying healthy cells and transplanted organs and tissues.

• Center for Molecular Chaperone/Radiobiology and Cancer Virology

• Institute of Neuroscience:

• Synapses and Cognitive Neuroscience Center: Research at this center focuses on synaptic mechanisms of learning and memory and the role of sleep in these processes in the brain.  The SCNC fosters translation of the basic research findings into the understanding of clinically important problems, including stroke, epilepsy, sleep disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease.

When considering choices for STAR mentors, interested students are welcome to contact MCG faculty members to discuss the biomedical research opportunities that are available for them as a Summer STAR participant in that laboratory if they are accepted in the STAR program.