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Student Programs

Hunter-Weill T32 Transdisciplinary Training Program                                                             

The T32 Program is a research training program targeting underrepresented minorities who have earned their doctoral degree. The program is sponsored by the City University of New York (CUNY) Hunter College, the CUNY Graduate Center, State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Health Sciences University and Weill Cornell’s Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Dr. Carla Boutin-Foster serves as the PI for SUNY Downstate’s T-32 program. This program offers a unique experience that blends basic science research with epidemiology, health disparities research, health policy, community engagement, and clinical exposure. The goal is to increase opportunities for minority researchers in the area of health disparities research with a focus on diseases of the heart and lungs. Our first T32 fellow, Dr. Douglas Mansell is a recent Ph.D graduate from Howard University receiving his degree from the Department of Microbiology with specialization in molecular biology and immunology. As a graduate student at Howard University, Douglas worked in collaboration with Children’s National Medical Center under the guidance of Dr. Robert Freishtat where he investigated the effects of Vitamin D deficiency in adolescent asthmatics. Dr. Mansell currently works at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University as a young independent investigator under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Foronjy and Dr. Carla Boutin Foster. He is investigating the molecular effects of vitamin D in the reduction of airway inflammation in asthma and related illnesses in COPD. 

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