Buchanan to lead Medical Scientist Training Program

Gordon Buchanan, MD, PhD, associate professor in the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Department of Neurology, has been named director of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), the college’s dual MD/PhD program, effective Sept. 1.

Buchanan, the Beth L. Tross Associate Professor, is an active physician-scientist with an outstanding record of mentorship, clinical care, teaching and scholarship, and professional service. He is a member of the Iowa Neuroscience Institute and the Pappajohn Biomedical Institute.

Since 2010, the MSTP at the Carver College of Medicine has been led by director Steven Lentz, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Internal Medicine who serves as the Henry Hamilton Chair in Hematology, and co-director Pamela Geyer, PhD, professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Lentz and Geyer have helped the program thrive in its mission to train outstanding students to become future leaders in academic medicine and biomedical research. Geyer has spent more than 25 years in MSTP leadership roles; she and Lentz will remain involved with the program as Buchanan assumes the directorship.

The Iowa MSTP is among the longest-standing programs of its kind in the country, having been continuously supported by the National Institutes of Health since 1977. The program has graduated over 260 MD/PhD students and has been uniquely successful in integrating clinical education with research training, preparing graduates for careers as physician-scientists.