Brennan Decker, a third-year medical student at the Medical College of Wisconsin, has been accepted into the National Institutes of Health-Oxford-Cambridge MD/PhD Scholars Program. The prestigious program pairs students with advisors both in the United Kingdom and at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), who guide their training as physician-scientists.
Decker has spent the last year at the NIH’s National Human Genome Research Institute as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute – National Institutes of Health Research Scholar. That award allowed Decker to defer a year of medical school to pursue scientific research under a dedicated NIH mentor.
Decker’s interest in genomics was sparked during his time at the Medical College’s Human and Molecular Genetics Center, under the mentorship of Howard Jacob, PhD, Warren P. Knowles chair in genetics, professor of physiology and director of the Human and Molecular Genetics Center.
“I am optimistic that genomics has the potential to alter paradigms of disease prevention, detection and treatment. The OxCam Scholars Program perfectly fits my academic objectives because it unites unparalleled scientific resources with productive international partnerships and goal-oriented laboratory research,” Decker said.
Decker is a Wisconsin native. He attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., on a National Merit Scholarship. He is also a Fulbright Scholar.
Decker is the recipient of a V. Duane Rath Merit Scholarship at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and plans a translational career with the aim of applying genomics to clinical medicine.