The first class has completed the VERTICAL Program at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, which provides medical and graduate school preparation for aspiring oncologists and cancer researchers.

The program was established in 2023 with financial support from the American Cancer Society, and Vanderbilt-Ingram had an inaugural class of four fellows. This was followed by the enrollment of another fellow in 2024.

“This is a two-year program that gives trainees a robust mentored research experience,” said Kimberly Dahlman, PhD, associate professor of Medicine, who is the assistant director of Research Education at Vanderbilt-Ingram. “In addition to being embedded in a cancer research laboratory, fellows also participate in professional development and cancer education activities, including career-path, lunch-and-learn sessions and cancer biology coursework.

“They are also involved in community service projects related to cancer. This program gives them dedicated time to prepare for their medical school or graduate school applications, in addition to their research experiences.”

In August, another class of four fellows will start the VERTICAL Program, which is kept small so it can be tailored to individual development plans. The participants do not receive credits toward graduate degrees, but they do become more competitive for acceptance into medical and graduate school programs.

“The VERTICAL Program gave me the final push I needed to pursue a PhD,” said Asia Miller, a member of the inaugural class from Indiana, who has a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University in Biological Sciences “I was not confident in my identity as a researcher before the program, despite having done research in all four years of college. This was the best professional and personal development experience I have ever had.”

Bryan Hernandez, another inaugural class member who has a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from The University of Texas at El Paso, said he is looking forward to a career as a physician-scientist.

“The VERTICAL Program provided me with the perfect combination of structured mentoring and independent guidance throughout my two years in the program,” Hernandez said. “This dynamic exposed me to more robust career-building opportunities in areas of cancer research and medicine I was not previously familiar with. Thanks to my time in the VERTICAL Program, I was able to progress into the next formative step in my intended career path as a physician-scientist with a newfound outlook on the field of science and medicine I had been interested in.”

VERTICAL is an acronym for Vanderbilt Education Research and Training in Cancer and Leadership Program. It is open to individuals with bachelor’s degrees from nationally accredited colleges or universities who desire to pursue doctoral degrees and careers in science or medicine with a focus on cancer. Participants are paid a living wage.

“We also pay for MCAT preparation for fellows who want to take the MCAT for medical school applications,” said Dahlman, who is also co-director of the third- and fourth-year undergraduate medical education curriculum at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

VERTICAL fellows at Vanderbilt-Ingram are also offered the opportunity to do clinical shadowing and are provided financial support to attend one conference a year to present their research.

Vanderbilt-Ingram was selected as one of the five initial pilot locations for the postbaccalaureate fellows program, which was started by the American Cancer Society. Each of the pilot institutions has its own name for the program. Debra Friedman, MD, MS, holder of the E. Bronson Ingram Chair in Pediatric Oncology and deputy director of Vanderbilt-Ingram, serves as assistant director of the VERTICAL Program. Caroline Hartford is the senior program manager of VERTICAL.

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