The Russell Cunningham Memorial Research Program was established by Dr. Sergio Stagno, Chair Emeritus of the UAB Department of Pediatrics, to honor the memory of Dr. Russell Cunningham. Dr. Cunningham spent more than 30 years as a member of the faculty and was a fervent advocate for medical education. The program is designed to introduce students to pediatrics through research and clinical experience.

Interested students

First-year UASOM medical students with an interest in pediatrics are encouraged to apply for the 2020 Russell Cunningham Memorial Research Program, an eight-week summer internship and research program. 

Eligible projects include bench research, clinical research, and quality improvement projects. All projects should be designed for completion within the 8-week summer research internship time frame, or enough progress made such that finalization can occur during a scholarly activity block. Suggestions for projects in which this can be accomplished include: analysis of existing data from an ongoing project to answer a new research question or expansion of an existing project to examine a new but related question. New projects which can be accomplished within the internship time frame are also encouraged. Each student must have his/her own project; funding is not available for students to work as a research assistant on an existing project.

Based on these applications, two students will be selected and will work with faculty mentors from the Department of Pediatrics. Each selected student will receive $4000; an additional $1000 is available to cover costs of travel to present the research.

Faculty mentors MUST be in the Department of Pediatrics.

Application process

The following materials should be submitted through the Medical Student Summer Research Programs website:

• Student’s CV or resume (no longer than 3 pages)

• Students should compose a 3-5 page project proposal indicating research interests and career goals, research project description (introduction, project objectives and hypothesis, methods/approach) and literature cited. This description should be reviewed by the faculty mentor prior to submission to the committee.

Applications must be submitted by April 3, 2020 at 5 p.m.

Interested faculty mentors

Faculty mentor responsibilities include:
1) helping the student design a summer research project
2) providing the student with clinical experience.
This may include observation or participation in clinical activities (clinics or hospital rounds) or attendance at educational conferences. 

Faculty who are interested in mentoring a student for the summer of 2020 should forward the information and application document to the student. Applications must be submitted no later than April 3, 2020 at 5 p.m.  

For questions, please contact Dr. Cassi Smola, csmola@peds.uab.edu.