Scholarships for joint-degree students

Andrew Hack, AB'95, PhD'00, and Scott Nagle, PhD'00, have been chosen as the first recipients of the newly established Frank scholarships for biological sciences students in the joint-degree M.D./Ph.D. program. Each student will receive full tuition for the 2000-2001 academic year, plus a stipend for living expenses.

The joint-degree program is designed for students preparing for careers in academic medicine. It combines a medical education with graduate training in the basic sciences, leading to both M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. Each year, 15 students are selected for the program.

The Frank scholarships are funded by a $10 million gift of the Mrs. Zollie S. Frank Continuity Fund at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. The Frank family has made a number of gifts to the University, most recently helping to create a new department of human genetics and to establish the Hospitals' breast-cancer treatment center.

Hack, who completed his Ph.D. in molecular genetics and cell biology this past June, will finish medical school in 2002. His dissertation involved working on the basic biology of genetic diseases that affect cardiac muscles. Nagle's dissertation entailed developing methods of fast MRI scanning that provide three-dimensional pictures of the carotid arteries. Having earned his Ph.D. in medical physics, Nagle will be looking for a research-oriented residency after he completes medical school in two years.--C.S.