Marina Sharifi, MD, PhD, fellow, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care, is one of 11 subspecialty fellows in the U.S. to receive a grant from the Doris Duke Physician Scientist Fellowship, a program of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF).

The grant will support Dr. Sharifi’s research project, “Multiplex Liquid Biopsy as a Novel Biomarker for PI3K Inhibitor Therapies.”

Recipients of the Physician Scientist Fellowship were chosen through a competitive, peer-review process by an external panel of physician scientists. While fellows training in fields such as cardiology, hematology, infectious diseases and oncology typically receive funding from their departments for short-term research, there are few opportunities to obtain external support for extended research during this phase.

DDCF designed the Physician Scientist Fellowship to address this gap in support. Each selected fellow is receiving two years of funding at $110,000 per year, a total of $220,000 for the entire grant term, and will work under the supervision of a mentor who will guide them toward successful biomedical research careers.

Dr. Sharifi’s research has also been supported through the McArdle Training in Cancer Biology T32 Institutional Training Grant. Her primary research mentor is Joshua Lang, MD, associate professor, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care, and she is co-mentored by Kari Wisinski, MD, professor, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care.

Dr. Sharifi earned her MD and PhD in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Chicago and completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Wisconsin Department of Medicine's Physician-Scientist Training Program (PSTP). The PSTP program provides internal medicine residents who desire a career in basic science or clinical research the skills to become independent investigators in the field of their choice.

Dr. Sharifi is the second fellow from the Department of Medicine to take part in this fellowship. In 2019, Jeremy Kratz, MD, fellow, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care, also received the Doris Duke Physician Scientist Fellowship.

About the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, child well-being and medical research, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties. The foundation’s Medical Research Program supports clinical research that advances the translation of biomedical discoveries into new preventions, diagnoses and treatments for human diseases. To learn more about the program, visit www.ddcf.org.

Updated September 21, 2021