When 15 biomedical research scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) discussed some of the highlights and pitfalls of their chosen profession, they mentioned becoming too involved in their own research and losing touch with the field; conducting important research versus researching personal interests; keeping up with colleagues; and generally racing against time -- in fighting a disease, keeping up with a grant cycle or trying to publish.

What sets these scientists apart is that they are undergraduates, most just barely out of their teens and representative of minority groups -- two populations generally not found in the labs of world-class biomedical research facilities.

For the past 13 years, the Gateways to the Laboratory Program has set out to alter that trend, inviting undergraduates from some of the best institutions in the country to New York City to conduct research and gain clinical experience under the direction of the Tri-Institutional M.D.-Ph.D. Program, comprising WCMC, Rockefeller University and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

For 10 weeks in June, July and August, the students participate in a journal club, develop research manuscripts and posters, shadow clinical teams, scrub into surgeries and conduct laboratory research with the help of M.D.-Ph.D. student "Big Sibs" (assigned to mentor incoming freshmen) and research faculty sponsors.

Since its inception, the program has nearly quadrupled in size and has become a national model for developing minority M.D.-Ph.D. students early in their academic careers. According to Dr. Olaf Andersen, director of the Tri-Institutional program, minority M.D.-Ph.D. students make up less than one-quarter of 1 percent of all medical school graduates.

"The spirit of the program is to provide students with research experiences on the cutting edge of modern biomedical research, which in itself will help the students in their future career," said Andersen. "More importantly, however, it will open doors that might not otherwise be open to them."

The program is highly selective -- 15 students were selected out of a pool of nearly 150 applicants -- and academically rigorous; students must complete research reports and make presentations on the program's final day.

During the last week of the program, Brady Evans, a student from the University of Puget Sound working on measuring telomeres in the neural stem cells of mice, could often be found coming into the lab after midnight to complete experiment cycles.

"You work a lot of hours, but generally it's up to you. I wanted to get an idea of what an M.D.-Ph.D. lifestyle was like, to see how a lab works. It really helps you understand why research takes so long," Evans said. His work paid off, and at the closing ceremony at Rockefeller University, Aug. 10, Evans and fellow Gateways student Amber Gaither reaped an Abby Rockefeller Mauze Fellowship.

Encouraging students to consider the M.D.-Ph.D. program at Weill Cornell is a secondary goal of the program. Although students are encouraged to apply to M.D.-Ph.D. programs elsewhere in the country, many Gateways alumni end up pursuing their degree in the Tri-Institutional program.

During her undergraduate years, Tri-Institutional student Tanya Williams spent her summers in several different research programs, including those at Stanford University, Weill Cornell and her home institution, Emory University. But the Gateways program's balance of clinical and research experience provided a better look into the M.D.-Ph.D. lifestyle and the institution as a whole.

"Weill Cornell was very much at the top of my list of schools, and it had a lot to do with the Gateways program. M.D.-Ph.D. training is very long, often seven to eight years, and you don't want to get lost at any particular step," said Williams, who is entering her third year in the program and is researching opiates and estrogen receptors, a theme she began during her Gateways experience in summer 2002.

"You want to have people in leadership positions who are going to be taking care of you but not necessarily holding your hand, and Weill Cornell provided that balance."

Both Evans and Williams said they benefited most from the exposure to M.D.-Ph.D. students and physician-scientists, who gave them the background to map out their future careers. It is an investment in human resources that Andersen is more than happy to make.

"We are in the venture capital business, but not for money. We are interested in minds," Andersen observed.

Gabriel Miller is a writer with Weill Cornell Medical College's Office of Public Affairs.