About the Program
Long-time supporters of the M.D./Ph.D. program at Baylor College of Medicine, the McNairs established the McNair M.D./Ph.D. Scholars program in 1998. Through that program, they support students for eight years through medical and graduate school.
The M.D./Ph.D. program is designed to train highly motivated individuals into becoming physician scientists who split their time between conducting biomedical research while still caring for patients. To date, 33 McNair M.D./Ph.D. Scholars have graduated and 16 McNair M.D./Ph.D. Scholars are currently enrolled in various stages of their training.
View a complete list of our McNair M.D./Ph.D Scholar Alumni.
Current McNair M.D./Ph.D. Scholars
Colleen Brady
9th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student
4th Year Medical Student, Class of May 2023
Johns Hopkins University, BA Neuroscience, 2013
Graduate Program: Developmental Biology, Ph.D., 2021
Thesis Title: Cell-type specific deletions of Nlgn2 reveal vital role for excitation-inhibition balance in visual cortex
Mentor: Mingshan Xue, Ph.D.
Gerry Koons
9th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student
4th Year Medical Student, Class of May 2023
University of South Carolina, BS Biomedical Engineering, 2014, Summa Cum Laude
Graduate Program: Rice University Bioengineering, Ph.D., 2021
Thesis Title: 3D printing of biomaterials for cranial bone tissue engineering
Mentor: Antonios Mikos, Ph.D.
Catherine Bradley, Ph.D.
8th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student
3rd Year Medical Student, Class of May 2024
Texas A&M University, BS Biomedical Sciences, 2012, Cum Laude
Johns Hopkins University, MS Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, 2014
Graduate Program: Genetics & Genomics, Ph.D., 2022
Thesis Title: RNa polymerase inaccuracy underlies SARS-CoV-2 variants and vaccine heterogeneity
Mentor: Christophe Herman, Ph.D.
Eric Wang
8th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student, 6th Year Graduate Student
University of California, Los Angeles, BS Neuroscience, 2014
Graduate Program: Neuroscience
Research Interest: In-silico functional characterization of the visual cortex
Mentor: Andreas Tolias, Ph.D.
Erin Bolte
7th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student, 5th Year Graduate Student
University of Notre Dame, BS Biochemistry and Arabic Language, 2012, Magna Cum Laude
University of Guelph, MS Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2015
Graduate Program: Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine
Research Interest: The role of microbe-epithelial interactions on primate enteroneuroactivity in response to maternal high fat diet
Mentor: Kjersti Aagaard, M.D., Ph.D.
William Wu
7th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student, 5th Year Graduate Student
Johns Hopkins University, BS Cellular and Molecular Biology
Graduate Program: Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine
Research Interest: Role of spliceosome-inhibitor induced immune signaling in antitumor efficacy
Mentor: Thomas “Trey” Westbrook, Ph.D.
Linda Zhang
7th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student, 5th Year Graduate Student
University of California, Berkeley, BA Cellular and Molecular Biology, 2015, Cum Laude
Graduate Program: Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine
Research Interest: Genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screen reveals dependency of PPM1D mutant cells on DNA repair
Mentor: Margaret Goodell, Ph.D.
Hilda Chan
6th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student, 4th Year Graduate Student
Clemson University, BS Biochemistry, BS Modern Languages (Chinese Emphasis), 2017
Graduate Program: Immunology and Microbiology
Research Interest: Breast Cancer Immunology
Mentor: Xiang Shawn Zhang, Ph.D.
Thomas Gebert
6th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student, 4th Year Graduate Student
University of Washington, BS Neurobiology, 2016, Summa Cum Laude
Graduate Program: Development, Disease Models and Therapeutics
Research Interest: Purinergic signaling as a mediator of epithelial homeostasis and disease
Mentor: Joseph Hyser, Ph.D.
Xueyin Alice Wen
6th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student, 4th Year Graduate Student
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SB, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, 2016
Graduate Program: Genetics and Genomics
Research Interest: Interbacterial transfer of cytoplasmic protein is enhanced during persistence
Mentor: Christophe Herman, Ph.D.
Christina Magyar
4th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student, 2nd Year Graduate Student
Bethel University, BS Nursing, 2009, Magna Cum Laude
Lake Superior State University, BS Biochemistry, 2017, Summa Cum Laude
Graduate Program: Genetics and Genomics
Research Interest: Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Mentor: Hsiao-Tuan Chao, M.D., Ph.D.
Sarah Waldvogel
5th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student, 3rd Year Graduate Student
Clemson University, BS Biochemistry and Genetics, 2018, Summa Cum Laude
Graduate Program: Cancer and Cell Biology
Research Interest: The effect of DNMT3A loss on the competitive fitness of mutant cells in somatic mosaicism
Mentor: Margaret Goodell, Ph.D.
Joshua Keefe
4th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student, 2nd Year Graduate Student
University of California, Los Angeles, BS Bioengineering, 2017, Magna Cum Laude
Graduate Program: Development, Disease Models and Therapeutics
Research Interest: Role of interleukin-6 in postoperative atrial fibrillation
Mentor: Xander Wehrens, M.D., Ph.D.
Malcolm McDonald
4th Year M.D./Ph.D. Student, 2nd Year Graduate Student
Duke University, BS Neuroscience, 2018, Magna Cum Laude
Graduate Program: Development, Disease Models and Therapeutics
Research Interest: Tumor-neuron crosstalk in glioma seizures
Mentor: Benjamin Deneen, Ph.D.
Karthik Goli
3rd Year M.D./Ph.D. Student, 1st Year Graduate Student
Rice University, BS Biochemistry & Cell Biology, BA Kinesiology, 2020, Magna Cum Laude
Graduate Program: Rice University Bioengineering
Research Interest: Deep-learning neural networks to improve gastrointestinal cancer screening at the point-of-care setting
Claudia Tischler
3rd Year M.D./Ph.D. Student, 1st Year Graduate Student
University of California, Berkeley, BA Cognitive Sciences, 2018, Magna Cum Laude
Graduate Program: Neuroscience
Research Interest: Systems Neuroscience
Learn more about the McNair Medical Institute at Baylor and the support of Robert C. and Janice McNair.