UNMC medical student Sally Ingham has received a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.
Ingham, a third-year student, is one of 68 medical students nationwide to receive the prestigious research fellowship. She will conduct a full year of mentored biomedical research training as part of the annual $2.8 million Medical Research Fellows Program.
Ingham said she will be working in the lab of Helen Hobbs, M.D., and studying the genetics of lipid metabolism.
“We will be looking at a genetic polymorphism that causes less severe non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,” Ingham said. “I have done some research in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease before, but this research focuses on a different aspect of the disease, one that is more genetically based,” she said. “Also, I will be learning a lot of new laboratory techniques to analyze how the polymorphism affects lipid metabolism.”
“The College of Medicine is very excited that Sally has been named as one of the HHMI’s medical research fellows for the upcoming academic year,” said Sue Pope, program coordinator for the college’s office of admission and student affairs. “This is a very competitive process and a very prestigious honor, and we are very proud of Sally.”
Ingham said she would like to combine research with clinical medicine in her professional career.
“I am very excited about this opportunity,” she said. “I am very honored to have been awarded this fellowship and I look forward to a new experience.”
The program has funded more than 1,600 students since it was established by HHMI 26 years ago.