Biology, Psychology Honors Undergraduate Receives NIH Scholarship

Casey Rimland, a biology and psychology honors undergraduate in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at UNC Charlotte, recently received an eight-year scholarship through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Oxford Cambridge Scholars Program.

Rimland, a Charlotte native who is graduating this May, will pursue a combined medical/doctorate degree through the NIH Oxford Cambridge program; she is one of only four individuals in the country accepted for that degree option this year.

She will spend the first two years attending medical school at UNC-Chapel Hill, followed by two years at the NIH and two years at Oxford or Cambridge to complete a Ph.D. Afterward, she will return to Chapel Hill to finish her final two years of medical school clinical rotations.

Obtaining the scholarship is the culmination of a nearly three-year effort by Rimland, who first learned of the program as a sophomore following a Google search on joint M.D/Ph.D. programs. She credits her UNC Charlotte experience with enabling her to compete for this prestigious award.

“Getting accepted to the Ox/Cam program still doesn’t seem real. This program has been a dream of mine for three years, and I’ve worked toward this for so long,” said Rimland. “For me, it was essential that I had so many opportunities to conduct research as an undergraduate. All I ever had to do was ask a faculty member if I could participate in his or her research project. Everyone was always willing to give me the chance to experience and learn what it takes to be a researcher first-hand. That is a major strength at UNC Charlotte, and one that I hope continues and expands.”

Rimland stated that some of her most significant projects at UNC Charlotte included studying the epidemiology of traumatic brain injury through the Psychology Department and working to understand the biological role of a protein related to cancer genetics in the Biology Department.

She also participated in two summer research programs. At the University of Campinas in Brazil, she investigated the biochemical effects of weight-loss medications, and she worked with neural stem cells at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Throughout her undergraduate career, she received mentoring and advice from many UNC Charlotte faculty members, including George Demakis, professor of psychology; Julie Goodliffe, assistant professor of biology; Christopher Gee and Jason Flores, biology lecturers; and Daniel Jones, associate professor of chemistry.

With the award finalized, Rimland is focused on selecting her research mentors at the NIH and either Oxford or Cambridge. She intends to research stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. Currently, her focus is on neural stem cells with the goal of researching how to use them in regenerative medicine to treat neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s.

The NIH Oxford Cambridge Scholars Program will fund all eight years of Rimland’s advanced studies, including medical school tuition to Chapel Hill and tuition to Oxford or Cambridge Universities, as well as provide health insurance, a yearly stipend of $25,000 and a travel allowance of $3,000 annually until degree completion.

According to the NIH, which is the largest biomedical research complex in the world, only the most promising biomedical students are admitted to its unique program, which offers access to the insights and resources of multiple mentors at the three collaborating institutions. The program seeks to train future leaders in biomedical research who will approach research with an interdisciplinary and international perspective. At present, there are more than 90 NIH Cambridge Oxford Scholars conducting scientific inquiries in approximately 50 different areas of biomedical research.

Reprinted from Campus News.