“The Next Generation of Trainees Will Not Have the Same Opportunities”
Ally Questell aspires to become a doctor who advances patient care through research
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- Perspective
The federal government has terminated numerous federally funded grants and contracts to Harvard and is scaling back investments in scientific and medical research across the country. In this series, Harvard Medical School scientists discuss how these actions are affecting their research and their labs.
By focusing on cancer immunology, Ally Questell hopes to contribute to a world in which cancer is no longer a devastating diagnosis for the millions of Americans who receive it each year. In May, the federal grant that funds her MD-PhD training at Harvard was terminated.
Federal grants for MD-PhD training support students in programs across the United States, preparing them to become both physicians and researchers.
“Physician-scientists are uniquely positioned to take problems that they see in the clinic, bring them back to the lab to devise solutions, and then translate that back to the clinic to improve patient lives,” she says.
If federal funding for MD-PhD training at Harvard is not restored, she worries that the next generation will not have the same opportunities to become physician-scientists. Hear more from Questell in the video below.