Educate & Train

How We Learn More About MS - Education & Training

Tisch MS Research Center of New York is committed to the continual education of our research staff in the latest developments in MS research from around the world, as well as advances in our understanding of MS etiology and pathology coming out of our own laboratory. In addition, we have programs in place to mentor and train young scientists beginning careers as clinicians or researchers.  

Research Meetings

Wednesday mornings at Tisch MS feature Grand Rounds lectures, where preeminent experts in MS and broader neurological research present late-breaking findings to our research staff as well as to the clinical staff of the IMSMP. At lab meetings on Monday mornings, our senior research scientists (and on occasion, junior scientists) detail the progress of their experiments, receive feedback from their colleagues, and thereby drive forward our research agenda. Finally, weekly journal club meetings offer our researchers the opportunity to present recent publications that in some way intersect with our research or clinical work to the entire staff. Research assistants share equal responsibilities with principal investigators (PIs) for journal club presentations and thereby gain experience in scientific communication and presentation in front of an audience.  

Research Assistant Program 

One of the most important goals of the Tisch MS Research Center of New York is to provide research opportunities for young science graduates that enable them to become career scientists. Since its inception in 2006, we have trained over 100 college graduates as research assistants (RAs) for 2-year rotations. We have particularly productive RA recruitment relationships with Columbia University, Cornell University, and Williams College. While at Tisch the RAs are all expected to publish their research and are taught to critically review the literature at weekly conferences and laboratory meetings. After completing this rigorous program at Tisch MSRCNY, our RAs are almost always able to obtain placement in leading MD, PhD, or MD/PhD graduate programs. Go to our Careers section for more information on available research assistant positions.

Clinical Research Assistants

Clinical research assistants maintain the relationship between the clinic and the lab by coordinating CSF and blood samples given by patients. They also coordinate the Phase II trial and conduct testing visits with the enrolled patients. In addition to the trial, the clinical researchers work on a number of projects concerning clinical outcomes such as quality of life in MS patients, Sjogren’s, and immunoglobulins in patients on Rituxan and Ocrevus.

Our current clnical research assistants are Michaela Malin (BA from ) and Morgan Roche (BS from Wake Forest University).

Summer Internship Program

Every summer, several undergraduate university students are selected to participate in the Tisch MS summer internship program. The program is an eight-week summer immersion into the laboratory, where students gain experience with various aspects of MS research. A number of summer interns from past years have gone on to become full-time research assistants upon graduation. For information on this program, please contact researchjobs@tischms.org  and specify “summer intern application” in the subject line. Applications are accepted starting in January.