Michael Song (mikesong06@gmail.com)

Graduate Program:  Biomedical Sciences
Lab PI: Jason Yuan
Undergraduate Education:  University of Michigan
Med-into-Grad Clinical training area:  Pulmonary diseases
Clinical mentors: Kim Kerr, Judd Landsburg

Quote: "Therapies for Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary hypertension have progressed dramatically in the last 10 years.  Pulmonary hypertension has changed from literally a death sentence to a chronic disease.  However, the need for new therapies is still great.  Particularly, I am interested in drug therapies against Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension, which could supplant the need for a surgery that has the highest risk of any procedure.”

Rationale for Med-into-Grad training:
Medical training and identification of medically-relevant research issues:
Training in diagnostics & therapeutics, and identification of unmet diagnostic & therapeutic needs:
Diagnostic, therapeutic, and research collaborations:
Student-specific experiences:
Long term impact.:
Advice for new trainees--autumn preparatory quarter:
Advice for new trainees--winter clinical training quarter:
Take home perspective on Med-into-Grad at UCSD:

Rationale for Med-into-Grad training: I chose to undertake the med-into-grad training for two reasons.  One, as a new 2nd year graduate student I wanted to come up with an innovative project that has great significance to the clinical treatment of human disease.  The med-into-grad program was a great vehicle for me to learn the physiology, pathophysiology, and the clinical issues to complement my laboratory knowledge in the basic sciences.  And, the med-into-grad program allowed me to develop great contacts with physician who are experts on my disease of study and will keep my research grounded in topics that are useful.  Second, I did the med into grad program to see if going to medical school after graduate school would be a good decision for me.  

Medical training and identification of medically-relevant research issues: The research topic that I came up with during the med-into-grad quarter combines a basic clinical insight with the mechanistic type of research I would like to pursue as a scientist.  The vasoprotective effects of estrogen on the systemic vasculature is well documented.  This phenomenon manifests clinically in significantly fewer woman developing systemic hypertension and athlerosclorosis compared to men.  However, neither the effect of estrogen, nor the effect of the intermediary mediators downstream of estrogen, is well studied in the pulmonary vasculature.  In fact, Pulmonary Hypertension is roughly twice as common in women compared to men.  Therefore, I am utilizing the resources in place in Dr. Jason Yuan's laboratory for the study of pulmonary hypertension to 1) characterize the effect of estrogen on human pulmonary artery smooth muscle and human pulmonary artery endothelial cells in comparison to their counterparts in the systemic vasculature (which are well studied), 2) study the effect of estrogen and its downstream mediators on the development of Primary Pulmonary Hypertension and Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension by examining differences between patient samples compared to those of healthy individuals.

Long term impact:  The Med-into-Grad training cemented my belief that translational research is utterly necessary.  Only by combining clinical insights and basic science research can we develop useful therapies against human disease.  The MIG program is instrumental in training basic science researchers to target their energies in the most worthwhile manner.

Training in diagnostics & therapeutics, and identification of unmet diagnostic & therapeutic needs:   Therapies for Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary hypertension have progressed dramatically in the last 10 years.  Pulmonary hypertension has changed from literally a death sentence to a chronic disease.  However, the need for new therapies is still great.  Particularly, I am interested in drug therapies against Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension, which could supplant the need for a surgery that has the highest risk of any procedure. 

Research, diagnostic, and Tterapeutic collaborations:  I did not focus on developing collaborations involving research, new diagnostics or new therapeutics.  My main focus was getting an understanding of these diseases and developing the rational for my thesis research. I’m certain that the physicians whom I met during the med into grad program will be invaluable in the development of my research project.

Student-specific experiences:
The greatest thing about the med into grad program is that it is customized towards your goals.  Depending on what you hope to learn from the program you can you can tailor it to fit that. 

Advice for new trainees--autumn preparatory quarter:
My daily one-on-one discussions with Dr. Landsburg were what prepared me most for my clinical experiences.  Dr. Landsburg covered all the science I would need to know and also prepared me for the clinical environment. 

Advice for new trainees—winter clinical training quarter:
In the clinic, at least at first, no one really knows who you are and why you’re there.  So, if you just stand in the corner most people will just go about their busy days and leave you alone.  What you should do is introduce yourself to everyone your meet and explain to them what you’re doing there.  Once they know you, I’ve found that people are more than happy to teach and explain things to you.

Take home perspective on Med-into-Grad at UCSD:  The med into grad program is a great opportunity for all graduate students in the life sciences.  The clinical experience provides great perspective on the end goal of our day to day research.  I would encourage every graduate student to pursue the med into grad program as early as possible in their graduate training.