Alumni of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at MCW continue to procure successful and prominent positions throughout the United States. Each year, a Program graduate is invited back to present a seminar and interact with current students and select faculty. This event also includes an offsite dinner with one-on-one opportunities to discuss career pathways, personal perspectives on the dual degree path, various academic and clinical institutions, and perspectives on life following MSTP training.
This year Paul Hruz, MD PhD was invited as our Annual Visiting Alumnus. Dr. Hruz is a 1994 Graduate of the MSTP at MCW. Dr. Hruz has a faculty appointment in the Department of Pediatrics at Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Hruz is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism. Dr. Hruz has clinical interest in a wide range of endocrine disorders, with a special interest in diabetes mellitus. Dr. Hruz's research interests include intermediary carbohydrate metabolism, glucose transporter structure and function, mechanism of insulin action, and the molecular mechanisms leading to congenital and acquired lipodystrophies.
He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Diabetes Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Endocrine Society, and the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society.
As this year's Visiting Alumnus, Dr. Hruz presented a seminar entitled "HAART to Heart: HIV Protease Inhibitors and the Metabolic Syndrome." In the evening, MSTP students and selected faculty joined Dr. Hruz for a relaxing dinner at the Elm Grove Inn.
Following his visit, Dr. Hruz commented: “It was wonderful to see the tremendous growth in both the MSTP program and in the college as a whole since the days of my training here. Meeting with previous mentors and many of the current students were some of the many high points of my visit. “MCW has much to be proud of and I look forward to watching the continued success of the MSTP program.”