Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP)

For students seeking a career in biomedical research, the Postbaccalaureate Research Program (PREP) in the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the UMass Chan Medical School offers an outstanding opportunity to enhance student academic preparedness and laboratory-based or clinical research experience.  The result is a graduate who is competitive for admission into top-tier graduate programs.

The PREP program is a 12-month program which runs July through June.  The program prepares students with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in the Physical or Life Sciences (if interested in Basic Biomedical Science study) or a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Public Health or related social science degree (if interested in Clinical and Population Health Research) for doctoral study in the biomedical sciences.  Admitted students interested in the Basic and Biomedical Sciences undertake a yearlong mentored research project while studying foundational principles in Molecular Biophysics, Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology.  Students interested in Clinical and Population Health Research undertake a yearlong mentored research project while studying foundational principles in biostatistics and epidemiologic research methods. Successful students are recommended for admission into PhD programs of the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the UMass Chan Medical School for the following fall semester.

The PREP is in funded by a NIH Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) grant (R25GM121220).  Therefore, a goal of the PREP is to increase the diversity of the biomedical sciences graduate student population.  To be eligible, students must be a US citizens or Permanent Resident and must be from backgrounds underrepresented in the biomedical sciences as defined by the NIH.