College of Medicine

- Admissions Overview
- - MD Program
    UNMC's rigorous academics, diverse clinical experiences and supportive environment put you on the path to becoming a skilled, compassionate physician.
  - How to Apply
    UNMC prepares medical degree students to meet the needs of patients through clinical practice, biomedical science and research, problem-solving and compassion.
  - Contact Us
    Review contact information for the Office of Admissions and Student Affairs in the College of Medicine at UNMC.
  - Verification and State Licensure
    Review opportunities for state licensure following completion of the MD program in the College of Medicine at UNMC.
- - MD-MBA Program
    A combined MD-MBA degree equips you with the tools you need to become highly skilled in both management and medicine.
  - MD-MPH Program
    Pursue your passion for public health and medicine with a combined MD-MPH and help solve complex health problems.
  - MD-PhD Program
    Do you have a passion for caring for patients and for research? Consider the dual MD-PhD degree.
- Education Overview
- - Curriculum
    Our curriculum produces physicians whose foundation in basic, clinical, and health systems sciences prepare them to promote health and reduce patient suffering.
  - Graduation Requirements
    Review requirements for students pursuing an MD at the UNMC College of Medicine to graduate and receive their degree.
  - Objectives
    The objectives of UNMC's medical degree program are to prepare you for success in primary care or specialty fields.
  - Community Service
    Active participation in community service provides critical opportunities to apply skills and knowledge gained in medical school and develop a sense of empathy.
- - Enhanced Medical Education
    Enhanced Medical Education Tracks offer medical students an opportunity to perform an in-depth study of an interdisciplinary field of medicine.
  - MD Honor’s Thesis Program
    The MD honors thesis encourages students to engage in scientific research during medical education and become eligible to graduate with honors.
- Research Overview
- Internal Grants
  The College of Medicine has a variety of research-related grant and award opportunities available to UNMC faculty.
- Comparative Effectiveness Research
  The Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) program identifies knowledge gaps in the effectiveness of clinical care and improves CER in these areas.
- Great Plains IDeA-CTR
  The Great Plains IDeA-CTR is a collaborative effort between nine regional institutions that provides training, resources. and funding to regional researchers.
- Research and Development Committee
  The Research and Development Committee handles funding opportunities for faculty, including the Bridge Funding program, and student research opportunities.
- Student Opportunities
  The College of Medicine provides a variety of research opportunities for both current and prospective UNMC students.
- Residencies & Fellowships Overview
- Graduate Medical Education Programs
  UNMC's dozens of programs--including nearly 20 in internal medicine--allow residents and fellows a variety of specialties.
- House Officer Resources
  Find information for residents and fellows, including salaries, benefits and nearby housing.
- House Officer Wellness
  Wellness resources for residents and fellows include an assistance program and a private wellness lounge.
- Research
  We aim to facilitate house officers’ involvement in research in the areas of patient safety, quality improvement, healthcare disparities and education research.
- Salary and Benefits
  Paid vacation and professional leave, health insurance and meal allowances are just a few of the benefits residents receive in addition to their yearly salary.
- Contact Us
  Reach out to the Graduate Medical Education office for information about benefits, contracts, orientation or graduation.
Departments
Patient Care

Samantha A. Swenson, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

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Samantha Swenson, PhD

Samantha A. Swenson, PhD, is an assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Her research interest is in understanding the mechanisms that regulate leukemia development and progression with the ultimate goal of identifying new treatments for hematological malignancies.

Dr. Swenson's research focuses on the chromatin binding factor high mobility group box 3 (HMGB3), which she identified to be upregulated at the protein, but not RNA, level in leukemia regardless of the subtype. The canonical role for HMGB3 is in the nucleus regulating the balance between hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal and differentiation, a process that is disrupted in leukemia. Depletion of HMGB3 in patient-derived leukemia cell lines results in a loss of cellular proliferation, metabolic changes, and reduced activation of several cell signaling pathways.

The goal of the research is to identify the mechanism by which HMGB3 regulates these essential cellular processes in the hopes of developing a novel therapeutic for treatment of leukemia patients.

Education

BS: Biochemistry, UNL
PhD: Biochemistry, UNL
Post Doctoral Fellow, UNMC

Research Interests

Dr. Swenson is particularly interested targets that are dysregulated at the protein, but not transcript, level. Her lab uses a combination of mass spectrometry and transcriptomics to identify these factors and then characterizes them using conventional molecular biology methods. This approach allows for the identification of potential novel therapeutic targets, such as HMGB3, that are missed by conventional patient screening methods.

The lab uses patient-derived cell lines, mouse models, and primary patient samples as model systems to understand how these factors regulate leukemia development and progression.