UB medical student is chosen as NIH Medical Research Scholar

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Esha Chebolu, a student in the Class of 2020 in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, has been selected to participate in the Medical Research Scholars Program of the National Institutes of Health.

The prestigious national program allows medical, dental and veterinary students to interrupt their studies for one year to conduct research on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. “These scholars are the future leaders in American medicine,” said Thomas R. Burklow, MD, who directs the program.

Chebolu, a native of Watertown, N.Y. graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s of science in pharmacology from Stony Brook University. She received the Dean’s Letter of Commendation during her first two years in medical school.

While she hasn’t yet chosen a specific NIH lab or mentor to work with, she is interested in working at the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, to continue to pursue her interests in these fields.

As a medical student research fellow in the Primary Care Research Institute in the Department of Family Medicine in the Jacobs School, Chebolu conducted research on the treatment and retention outcomes of pregnant and/or parenting women with opioid use disorder. That work led her to be first author on a peer-reviewed publication in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, A Retrospective Analysis of Treatment and Retention Outcomes of Pregnant and/or Parenting Women with Opioid Use Disorder. She has also presented her research at local and national research meetings.

“In line with my previous work, I hope to continue to look at how social factors impact health outcomes in patients,” she said.

Beyond her academic and research accomplishments, Chebolu has led street rounds and served on the board of directors of UB Heals, the Jacobs School’s nationally recognized street medicine program that conducts outreach to the homeless population of Buffalo with the goal of providing basic medical and supportive care.

When she graduates, Chebolu wants to pursue a career in emergency medicine. “I am excited to be a physician that will see many different kinds of patients from all different backgrounds,” she says. “I hope to use my research to better understand social determinants of health, health disparities, and the relation to treatment outcomes in my patients.”