Research & Innovation
Moving Medicine Forward
The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) is home to more than 3,000 people dedicated to scientific research, studying common and rare illnesses, from cancer and heart disease to Parkinson’s and pandemic influenza. These efforts have led to therapies that have saved countless lives and improved human health locally, in the region, and across the globe.
Over the last five years, URMC has garnered more than $1.3 billion in biomedical research funding, landing the University in the top tier of U.S. medical centers in federal research funding. Coupled with one million square feet of state-of-the-art research space, high-end support services and shared resources, we’re building upon this strong legacy of research every day.
Explore the impact of our research and latest research news.
Medical Student Research
To achieve the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry MD goal of “Discovery”, the school defined an objective: “Use partnerships within the University to expand and facilitate medical student participation in master's degree and certificate programs.” Offering programs for certificates or degrees without additional costs to the students and achieving a 20 % participation in a structured year-out are two measurable outcomes of this objective.
Beginning in AY 2024-25, a student with an accepted year-out fellowship proposal that is funded by the medical school or an outside organization (e.g. Sarnoff) will be given the option to obtain an advanced certificate at the University of Rochester. Students will not be charged tuition or fees for the certificate program. They will maintain full-time student fellow status in the MD program, where they pay MD program continuation of enrollment and associated fees as is currently the practice. All certificate programs but one require students to be in Rochester for the duration of the program.
URSMD students on a year-out fellowship may participate in the following certificate programs:
School of Medicine and Dentistry: Department of Public Health Sciences
The advanced certificate in analytic epidemiology is designed to provide individuals with the knowledge and tools to assess and understand health-related information as encountered in their professional or personal lives. Learners will develop a comprehensive understanding of the science of epidemiology and acquire the skills necessary to conduct epidemiologic research and analysis.
The Advanced Certificate in health services research is designed to give individuals the knowledge and tools needed to evaluate the effectiveness of health services programs and policies. The program provides researchers and other interested individuals with a practical understanding of health services research methods, including cost-effectiveness analysis, impact analysis, and implementation of research.
The Advanced Certificate in clinical research methods (online only) is designed to give individuals the knowledge and tools needed to conduct clinical research. The program provides researchers and other interested individuals with a practical understanding of quantitative research methods including survey development, case control studies, cohort studies, randomized controlled trials, pragmatic trials, and quasi experimental methods, as well as qualitative research methods including ethnographic interviewing, participant observation, focus groups, and community-based participatory research.
The Advanced Certificate in Experimental Therapeutics research is designed to give individuals the knowledge and tools needed to conduct clinical research trials. The program provides researchers and other interested individuals with a practical understanding of quantitative research methods, including case-control studies, cohort studies, and randomized clinical trials.
The Advanced Certificate in Public Health provides individuals with knowledge and understanding of the key elements of public health practice. The program conveys a working knowledge of key areas of public health practice. The certificate is also designed to prepare qualified individuals to take the American Board of Public Health certification exam.
The primary objective of the program is to train the clinical research workforce to obtain the skills to better equip them to move their scientific discoveries forward to the next level in the translational process.
Warner School of Education
This innovative, interdisciplinary, and interprofessional program – a collaboration of the University of Rochester Schools of Education, Nursing, and Medicine & Dentistry – offers healthcare professionals unique opportunities to leverage their clinical experience and perspectives and to gain education skills, with the goal of improving patient care. Graduates of the health professions education program emerge as aspiring and inspiring leaders. They are well prepared to lead in an ever-changing healthcare environment and well positioned to succeed in ever-expanding roles and careers within traditional healthcare education and training environments, as well as in emerging healthcare delivery channels.
These programs leverage state-of-the-art research and best practices at the intersection of health and education to significantly influence the future of healthcare.
Website: https://www.warner.rochester.edu/degree/masters/health-professions-education
Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD)
Students interested in careers in medical science undertake training in both clinical medicine and research. The Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at Rochester is funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, and provides an outstanding faculty and a wide range of research training opportunities found only in our nation's leading biomedical research and clinical training centers.
The medical school fosters student involvement in foundational science, clinical, translational and health outcomes research. Students can utilize the summer after the first phase (year), elective time and an additional year out to pursue these interests. We offer several programs to facilitate student research in addition to working with students to obtain outside funding from various foundations.