Research and scholarship

At the School of Medicine, you’ll have many opportunities to engage in research and scholarship throughout your education. The Office of Research and Scholarship offers short- and long-term research programs, like the Summer Research Immersion Program (SRIP) and the Medical Research Honors Program (MRHP).

SRIP gives stipends to 65 preclinical students to engage in summer research each year. Projects are conducted over eight weeks in the summer after the first year of medical school.

Throughout SRIP, you can work directly with a faculty mentor and a research team on specific projects that include scientific research aimed at improving health in the laboratory setting or in a community setting, doing public health, community and clinical research that solve problems like access to care. As part of SRIP, you must submit an abstract and share your research findings with the community as an oral or poster presentation at the Summer Research Symposium.

MRHP is a long-term research program that can advance your fundamental scientific knowledge, refine your scholarly communication and foster a mindset of lifelong learning. You must submit a research project proposal, write a thesis and deliver an oral defense to complete the 4-year program. The research experience is guided by a research mentor, a thesis advisory committee and the program manager. Additionally, you’ll write abstracts, present posters and publish findings while building your thesis defense. If you meet all program requirements, you will graduate with an honors distinction.

You’ll find multiple occasions to present and publish your research findings, including presenting at the annual Spring Research Symposium or submitting your scholarly and creative work for publication in our Journal for Scholarly Research in Progress (SCRIP). This journal is published annually in both print and online mediums and is edited and produced with the assistance of student editors engaged in the editorial process.

To learn more, visit: go.geisinger.edu/researchandscholarship

MyCode: Personalizing healthcare

Geisinger’s research theme is to personalize healthcare by discovering ways to empower doctors to discern differences in patients — genetic, environmental or social — that impact quality and outcomes. Anchoring this theme is the MyCode® Community Health Initiative, a systemwide biobank storing blood and other samples for research use.

MyCode analyzes the DNA of volunteers and has surpassed its latest goal of 350,000 participants. Researchers use this vast body of data to transform knowledge of the genome into powerful intelligence that is personally relevant to individual patients. MyCode research has already been translated into ways to diagnose certain medical conditions earlier — even before symptoms appear — and to implement new treatments or medications to manage them.

Medical Marijuana Academic Clinical Research Center

In 2022, the School of Medicine was certified as a Medical Marijuana Academic Clinical Research Center (ACRC) by the Pennsylvania Department of Health as part of the state’s medical marijuana research program. Through our partnership with the state-approved clinical registrant, Story of PA, LLC, we support research in medical marijuana that aligns with Geisinger’s expertise in addiction medicine, pharmacy, epidemiology, behavioral sciences, bioethics, data science, education and genomics. Geisinger’s ACRC prioritizes research that is patient-centered and emphasizes the role of patients, providers and other health decision-makers as strategic partners. In this way, the School of Medicine is expanding our scientific understanding of the potential benefits and harms of cannabis on the health of patients.