MSTP Leadership
The Iowa MSTP leadership team includes the director, Dr. Gordon Buchanan, our associate directors, and our administrative team. This leadership team was established in 2023, after longtime co-directors Dr. Steve Lentz and Dr. Pam Geyer transitioned out of the MSTP. Dr. Buchanan was then named director, and our associate directors were appointed in 2024.
The MSTP leadership team has a long-standing commitment and dedication to physician-scientist graduate and medical education. Together, they are dedicated to the mission of training physician-scientists.
Dr. Jenni Bermick, Dr. Martha Carvour, Dr. Joseph Glykys, and Dr. Darren Hoffmann were recently appointed as associate directors for the program to help support and strengthen the Iowa MSTP and guide us into the next phase of this dynamic program.
Ms. Linda Varvel coordinates all MSTP activities, including admissions, recruitment, enrollment, registration, correspondence with the prospective applicants and current trainees, HR, tuition processes, enrichment activities, and reporting to the NIH.
Have a question? Always feel free to email your questions to mstp@uiowa.edu.
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Gordon Buchanan, MD, PhD |
Dr. Buchanan holds a primary appointment in the CCOM as the Beth L. Tross Epilepsy Professor in Neurology. Dr. Buchanan is a member of the Iowa Neuroscience Institute, Pappajohn Biomedical Institute, Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience, and Clinical Neuro-Scientist Training Program. Dr. Buchanan has a long-standing commitment to the training of physician-scientists. He is a graduate of the Medical Scholar Program (MD/PhD Program) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an active physician-scientist caring for patients with neurological disease, especially epilepsy, and studying basic neuroscience in the lab. He previously oversaw research training in neurology for medical students and led the research training track in neurology at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Buchanan has been involved with the Iowa MSTP since arriving at Iowa in 2015. He assumed the director role in 2023. Dr. Buchanan is committed to mentorship, which he considers to be among his top academic and professional priorities. He oversees the development and implementation of the overall MSTP curriculum. He is particularly involved in advising trainees during their initial medical phase of training, introducing them to the Individual Development Plan (IDP), and guiding their transition back to the medical curriculum after completion of the graduate phase of training. He is committed to ensuring an inclusive culture of excellence with trainees with all different types on lived experiences in the MSTP. He helps each trainee identify and navigate an individualized career development pathway to ensure timely progress towards career advancement. Dr. Buchanan is recognized as a leader for his basic research on time-of-day- and sleep-state-dependent mechanisms for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, thrombosis, hemostasis, and vascular dysfunction. He is a fellow of the American Neurological Association and the American Epilepsy Society, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. |
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Jenni Bermick, MD |
Dr. Bermick is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Neonatology). Her research focuses on early life immune development, with a particular interest in how early life infection and inflammation alter immune responses throughout the lifespan. Dr. Bermick obtained her medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health and completed her Pediatric Residency and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship at the University of Michigan. Dr. Bermick joined the University of Iowa as a physician-scientist in 2020. |
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Martha Carvour, MD, PhD |
Martha Carvour, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor of internal medicine (infectious diseases) and epidemiology in the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and College of Public Health. Her research is focused on the epidemiology of diabetes-related infections and on the intersections of social and structural determinants of health with population-level and community-level health outcomes. Dr. Carvour is an alumnus of the University of Iowa Medical Scientist Training Program. She completed her postgraduate training in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Research Pathway at the University of Texas Southwestern (internal medicine, epidemiology) and the University of New Mexico (infectious diseases, epidemiology) before returning to the University of Iowa as a faculty physician scientist. |
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Joseph Glykys, MD, PhD |
Dr. Glykys is an Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics and a physician-scientist researching the fundamental mechanisms of inhibition and neuronal swelling in the brain, with a particular focus on neonates and epilepsy. Dr. Glykys obtained his Medical Degree from Universidad de Carabobo in Valencia, Venezuela, pursued a Ph.D. at UCLA, and completed post-doctoral studies and a residency in Child Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. |
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Darren Hoffmann, PhD |
Darren Hoffmann is an associate professor of anatomy and cell biology and serves graduate and medical students in many roles. He is a co-course director of medical gross anatomy, an associate director of the MSTP, and a curriculum director for the Biomedical Science PhD program. Dr. Hoffmann conducts scholarly research on a variety of educational projects, including developing graduate students’ teaching skills and improving medical education through various technologies. Dr. Hoffmann has also been an evaluator for the MSTP for several years, and recently oversaw a career pathways study of our program’s 240 alumni. |
Linda Varvel, MS |
Linda Varvel is the administrative director of the University of Iowa Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) and has worked at the University of Iowa since July 2011. Before joining the MSTP in June 2020, Linda served as the Director of the Women in Science and Engineering program (WiSE) and before that worked with Living Learning Communities in University Housing and Dining. Her responsibilities include managing all aspects of MSTP administration, including program organization, recruitment/admissions, student affairs, and curriculum matters. She coordinates the recruitment and admissions process, course enrollment, health insurance, payroll, and tuition scholarships. She also works with the grant and oversees the budget. Linda also advises current and prospective students. As a professional, Linda brings energy, authenticity, humor, and empathy to her work with the Iowa MSTP students and strives to make the MSTP office a safe space for all. |
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Barb Lewis, MFA |
Prior to joining the MSTP in March 2023, Barb Lewis spent fifteen years working with medical students (as well as those in such programs as physical therapy, pharmacy, PA, nursing, and ultrasound). Most of that time Barb worked for the CCOM in MERF as a simulated patient. She has worked with students on interview and communication skills, taught physical exam skills as a PETA, and participated in many, many simulation scenarios. The highlight of her day is getting to interact with students, which is something she loves about the MSTP! Barb holds an MFA in nonfiction writing and has worked extensively in the writing and editing fields. She loves rainy days, books, carrot cake, board games, word and logic puzzles, and she especially love cats. |
