Spotlight on spectacular students
of the Medical School

By Darla Brown

Just to be a UT MedicalSchool student means you are something special. Our students are known to be hard working, collegial, and helpful. In the next few pages, we are featuring four students who have brought accolades and attention upon their good works outside of the confines of the UT Medical School. By no means is this an exhaustive list of our top achievers, but we hope it will give you some insights as to the type of students who make up The University of Texas Medical School at Houston student body.

Kari Wellnitz, 3rd Year Bismarck, ND (hometown)

FYI about Kari: She has run 13 marathons and is training for her first Half-Ironman.Award received: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Research Training Fellowship

Why is this award important to you? This one-year award will allow me to implement a research plan about the effects of diabetes on the heart and work with my mentor, Dr. Heinrich Taegtmeyer, professor of internal medicine in the Division of Cardiology, with whom I worked during the 2007 Summer Research Program. I found the work under way in the lab fascinating and enjoyed my time there so much that I decided to pursue funding so I would be able to devote a full year to research. Patients with type 2 diabetes develop congestive heart failure at a rate 250 percent times that of non-diabetics as the result of the metabolic derangements underlying this disease. Because of these staggering statistics, it is of vital importance that the mechanisms modulating remodeling and protein turnover in the diabetic heart are understood.

What will it help you to achieve? This fellowship is an incredible opportunity for me. My ultimate goal is to have a career in academic medicine that allows me to be involved in both direct patient care and translational research; this fellowship is an important first step along that path. I am excited to have the opportunity to spend a year working on a fascinating project and to then be able to share my findings at the HHMI Meeting of Medical Fellows and Research Scholars in May 2009. This fellowship will help me develop connections with established researchers and other research-oriented medical students.

Why do you think you won it? I think Dr. Taegtmeyer and I put together a strong research proposal with an interesting hypothesis. Also, Dr. Taegtmeyer has an excellent track record for mentoring graduate students, medical students, and cardiology fellows.

How competitive was this award? 68 students received this nationwide from a pool of 228 applicants.

What has been the most challenging part of medical school? The biggest challenge has been maintaining balance in my life – finding time to spend with family and friends and to pursue other things I enjoy, such as running and cycling.

What are your plans after medical school? Hopefully, I will complete a residency in internal medicine or internal medicine/pediatrics and then pursue a research-track fellowship in cardiology or endocrinology.