Leichtman-Levine-TEM Summer Mentorship in Women's Health Research at the
Iris Cantor-UCLA Women's Health Center

Thanks to a generous commitment from Executive Advisory Board member Lauren Leichtman and her husband Arthur Levine, in 2018 the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women’s Health Center began to offer mentored summer research opportunities for students at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. This program will enhance the Center’s ability to perform research as well as provide guidance to the next generation of women’s health researchers. Students will receive support to complete research, present their results, and network regionally and nationally with experts in women’s health. Summer research positions are available for first-year medical students at the David Geffen School of Medicine. The student experience includes:

• Mentorship in how a research plan is developed
  
  
• Assistance in completing an application for summer research support from the Short Term Training Program (STTP), Internal Medicine Chief's Fellowship, or other source of summer research support. (Students must obtain support from STTP, the Internal Medicine Chief’s Fellowship, or other DGSOM authorized source of support to participate)
  
  
• Tutoring in relevant design and analysis methods
  
  
• Hands on training in the use of statistical packages
  
  
• Structured research meetings throughout the summer research project
  
  
• Practicum in oral presentation of research results
  
  
• Clinical shadowing of a women's health provider at the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women's Health Center during the summer
  
  
• Guidance and assistance in developing a poster for the Josiah Brown Research Fair
  
  
• Continued support to submit results in abstract, presentation, or paper form
  
  
• Up to $1,500 in financial support for travel expenses should the project be accepted to be presented at a national research meeting

Research Director / PI

 

Gail Greendale, M.D.

Professor of Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology

Senior Mentor

2020 Announcement (PDF)

Applications for 2020 are now open

Current Student Researchers

 

Karen Bryan

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA 

Class of 2022

Karen Bryan is a rising second year medical student at UCLA, originally from the Bay Area, California. Karen was drawn to this focused research and mentorship program because she is passionate about women’s healthcare and is excited to explore those interests further through research and clinical exposure. She was lucky to grow up surrounded by strong female role models like her mother and grandmother, who instilled in her a value for advocating for women. Karen is interested in pursuing a career in OBGyn or Internal Medicine, and she looks forward to this opportunity to delve deeper into important topics in women’s health. She hopes to gain valuable research experience which will aid in her future practice to help her better understand the pressing issues facing women’s health today and how to address them as a clinician.

 

Aloukika Shah

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA 

Class of 2022

Aloukika is a rising second-year medical student at UCLA, originally from Northern California. Aloukika’s interest in women’s health was piqued after witnessing a loved one’s challenging experience though the menopausal transition. Understanding how truly unique women’s healthcare must be in order to meet the multidimensional needs of women, makes this a patient population she hopes to one day serve. Prior to medical school, Aloukika served as an AmeriCorps Health Fellow at a federally qualified health center where she witnessed the pervasive role of nutrition among many other lifestyle components underlying chronic disease. Her experience managing her clinic’s wellness center and leading classes in cooking and chronic disease management inspires her to pursue a career with longitudinal care of patients such as internal medicine. Aloukika looks forward to this targeted research mentorship as a valuable opportunity to build a foundation for both clinical research and critical thinking, two skills that she will continue to develop through her medical training and beyond.

Previous Student Researchers

 

Alexander Chen

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA 

Class of 2021

Originally from Richmond, California, Alex Chen first became interested in nutrition and health after volunteering as an undergraduate tutor with the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project. While teaching in correctional facilities, Alex saw firsthand the effects nutrition can have on the health of different populations; this experience sparked an interest that has continued at UCLA DGSOM. In the future, Alex hopes to pursue an academic career in general internal medicine. Part of that goal is providing the best possible clinical care, something that he believes this fellowship will be crucial for – in terms of building a better academic and clinical understanding of 50% of his future patients, building a foundation of clinical research skills, and fostering the curiosity and critical thinking it takes to go from research questions to patient decision-making.

 

Eden Patton

David Geffen School of Medicine/Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science

Class of 2022

Eden Patton is a first year medical student in the UCLA/Charles R. Drew Medical Education Program and PRIME (MD/Masters) Program. Eden was inspired to get into medicine after watching her mother struggle to receive appropriate quality healthcare due to their rural location. By obtaining a dual degree, Eden hopes to create and advocate for policy change that improves healthcare access for women in underserved communities. She looks forward to the research and mentorship she will be receiving to learn how to most effectively obtain and quantify information that can be instrumental in benefiting women’s healthcare.