Sally Feng, a student in the Integrated Biomedical Sciences (IBS) PhD program at GW’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), recently earned a prestigious predoctoral fellowship award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Feng received a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service (F31) Award under the NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for her research project, “Investigating Nerve Fiber-Associated Macrophages in Prostate Development.”
She attributed the IBS class “BMSC 8219 ‘Writing the Grant-Style Qualifier’,” taught by Alison Hall, PhD, senior associate dean for research, and professor of neurology and rehabilitation medicine; the IBS “grant-style” qualifying exam process; as well as guidance support from her mentor Maho Shibata, PhD, associate professor of anatomy and cell biology, for preparing her to write her successful F31 grant application.
“There were a lot of extra documents I had never thought of before,” Feng said when discussing her process of preparing her application. “I realized how many people were involved in the training of a student.”
One of the biggest highlights of her F31, Feng added, will be the ability to have dedicated funds to travel to attend conferences, something that isn’t built into students’ pre-existing stipends or lab funds. These additional experiences allow students to present their research and gain feedback from experts in their field, expand their professional networks, and discover potential career opportunities following their studies.
