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MD-PhD ProgramHealth Disparities and Aging

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  • Contact: Kristen Peek, PhD,
    Professor and Vice Chair of Education Program
    (409) 772-9143 
    mkpeek@utmb.edu

New MD/PhD in Aging-Related Research

“There’s a growing need for physicians who can do research related to aging,” said Kyriakos Markides, PhD, the Annie and John Gnitzinger Distinguished Professor of Aging. “Most MDs are trained to care for patients but not to conduct research.This program, like the general MD/PhD program we’ve had for decades here at UTMB, gives medical students the research experience and skills they need to pursue their career as academic physicians with an emphasis on social medicine.”

Read article at UTMB IMPACT


Overview

Training Program Director: Kyriakos S. Markides, PhD
Training Program Co-Director: M. Kristen Peek, PhD

The MD-PhD Training Program in Health Disparities and Aging focuses on health and aging in minorities, with an emphasis on older Hispanics. The PhD curriculum begins after two years in medical school. The MD-PhD Training Program is a partnership between the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, the Sealy Center on Aging, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Funds for the program come from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Mentoring teams provide expert guidance in an environment proven to maximize progress toward independent researcher status. Funded investigators include sociologists, economists, demographers, physicians, epidemiologists, and statisticians. Trainees collaborate with faculty who have over $42 million in research pertaining to minority health and aging in the areas of health disparities, aging and disease prevention, medical outcomes, health service utilization, social epidemiology, stress and biomarkers, cancer epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, and health promotion.
Aging Initiatives at UTMB

Faculty

  • Soham Al Snih, MD, PhD
  • Christine M. Arcari, MPH, PhD
  • Jacques Baillargeon, PhD
  • James S. Goodwin, MD
  • James Graham, PhD
  • Bret Howrey, PhD
  • Amol Karmarkar, PhD
  • Yong-Fang Kuo, PhD
  • Kenneth J. Ottenbacher, PhD
  • M. Kristen Peek, PhD
  • Mukaila Raji, MD, MSC
  • Elena Volpi, PhD, MD
  • Sue Weller, PhD