PIKE-PREP: Preparation in Interdisciplinary Knowledge to Excel - Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program

PIKE-PREP is a one-year program designed to prepare students for admission to and success in a top tier biomedical graduate school.

In this mentored research and training program, underrepresented students interested in pursuing a PhD or MD-PhD degree in biomedical sciences will participate in PIKE-PREP experiences and activities throughout the year at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Who is this program for?

This program aims to reach historically underrepresented students which include American Indians and Alaska Natives, African Americans, Latinos/Hispanic and Pacific Islanders, individuals with disabilities, and/or individuals from a disadvantaged background that are pursuing a PhD or MD-PhD in a biomedical or behavioral sciences field.

If you are specifically interested in cancer-related research, and you would benefit from a two-year program, consider applying for the ASCENT post-baccalaureate program instead.

Neither PIKE-PREP nor ASCENT are for students interested in applying to MD programs without a PhD focus or for students who are only exploring the idea of a future career in scientific research. If you are interested in pursuing an MD degree, please apply to the B2MR program instead which is a post-baccalaureate program for future medical students who are interested in incorporating research into their medical career.

PIKE-PREP is a one-year program beginning in June and ending the following June.

Important Dates:

• November 1, 2024 – March 2, 2025: Program Application Open
  
• March 2, 2025: All applications due (11:59 pm MT)
• June 1, 2025: Program start date

Timeline:

Summer

• Introductory program activities including a meet and greet with the staff and mentors and a tour of the CU Anschutz graduate program laboratories and facilities.
• Lab safety training.
• Development of the Individualized Development Plan (IDP).
• Partnering with mentors and research laboratories within CU Anschutz.
• Other PIKE-PREP activities and trainings.
• Optional GRE preparation workshop.

Fall/Winter

• Continue research work with mentors.
• Participate in journal club meetings, research-specific seminars, workshops, and/or retreats, skill development workshops, and other PIKE-PREP activities.
• Take a biostatistics course.
• Take optional graduate and/or undergraduate courses needed to enhance the scholar’s graduate application.
• Prepare graduate program applications with support and guidance from the PIKE-PREP team and mentors.
• Attend the CU Anschutz graduate program recruitment weekend.

Spring

• Wrap up research projects.
• Attend or present at a national science conference.
• Take optional graduate and/or undergraduate courses needed to enhance the scholar’s graduate application.
• Complete work towards meeting IDP goals.
• Support PIKE-PREP with the recruitment of the next class of scholars.
• Attend the end-of-year celebration.

• A salary of approximately $35,000, plus an additional $5,000 to pay for health, dental, and vision benefits,
• Tuition remission for PhD courses and/or undergraduate science courses deemed necessary to enhance the scholar’s preparedness for graduate school,
• Travel expenses to attend or present at a scientific conference,
• Exceptional mentored research experience at CU Anschutz, 
• Support in developing and preparing a competitive PhD program application to a top tier graduate school,
• High-quality professional and career development activities designed to meet each PIKE-PREP scholar’s needs and goals,
• And networking and community building opportunities to enable the scholar to integrate into the social and research environment.

As a comprehensive biomedical research university with numerous T32 and R25 training and education grants, students will have a diverse array of biomedical research subject areas to choose from including:

• Cancer Biology
• Cell Biology, Stem Cells, and Development
• Computational Bioscience
• Community & Behavioral Health
• Environmental & Occupational Health
• Epidemiology
• Human Medical Genetics and Genomics
• Immunology
• Integrated Physiology
• Microbiology
• Molecular Biology
• Neuroscience
• Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research
• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Pharmacology
• Public Health
• Rehabilitation Science
• Structural Biology and Biochemistry
• Toxicology

 

Name	Department/ School	Research Interests
Rajesh Agarwal, PhD	Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences – Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences	Cancer Biology, Cancer Pharmacology, Warfare Vesicants
Thomas Anchordoquy, PhD	Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences – Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences	Mechanisms to exploit exosomes for drug delivery, and strategies that harness the nanoparticle-induced immune response to limit off-target accumulation of nanomedicines and promote tumor regression.
Bruce Appel, PhD	Department of Pediatrics, Division of Developmental Biology – School of Medicine	The genetic, molecular and cellular basis of brain development and myelination using zebrafish as a model system.
Tracy L. Bale, PhD	Department of Psychiatry – School of Medicine	Understanding the role of stress dysregulation in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric diseases, and the sex differences that underlie disease vulnerability in humans using the mouse as a preclinical model.
Leslie Berg, PhD	Department of Immunology & Microbiology - School of Medicine	Understanding the roles of T-cell antigen receptor signaling in protection against infectious diseases, in tissues damage caused during autoimmunity, and in eradication of tumors.
Evelinn Borrayo, PhD	Department of Community & Behavioral Health - Colorado School of Public Health	Health Disparities, Cancer Among Ethnic Minorities, Women, and Older Adults, Latina and Latino Cancer
Cathy Bradley, PhD, MPA	Cancer Center & Colorado School of Public Health	Health and Labor Market Outcomes, Productivity Costs of Disease, Health Insurance Influence of Employment-Contingent Health Insurance on Treatment and Labor Supply, Socioeconomic Healthcare Disparities, Healthcare Delivery, Medicaid
Kimberly Bruce, PhD	Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology/Metabolism/Diabetes – School of Medicine	Understanding how changes in brain metabolism drive neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis, and designing new strategies that restore metabolism to mitigate disease.
Carlos Catalano, PharmD, PhD	Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences – Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences	Seeking to understand the molecular mechanisms of virus development in the complex double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses.
Sarah Clark, PhD	Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery	Bacterial-driven immune modulation in the respiratory tract exploring how exposure to these bacteria influences upper and lower respiratory tract inflammation and disease, with a focus on the innate immune response to acute infection.
Katrina Claw, PhD	Division of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine – School of Medicine	Using genetic information and biomarkers for personalized medicine, and understanding ethical cultural and social implication of genomics research with populations historically  underrepresented in health research.
Joanne Cole, PhD	Department of Biomedical Informatics – School of Medicine	Use of large-scale genomics as a tool to learn more about diet’s role in the body and human health, with a focus on cardiometabolic disease.
Sean Colgan, PhD	Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology – School of Medicine	Mucosal inflammation in the context of inflammatory bowel disease and other GI diseases (microbiota, host immune system, genetic background, and environmental influences).
Eduardo Davila, PhD	Division of Medical Oncology – School of Medicine	Understanding the cellular and molecular signals that promote generation of potent and long-lasting tumor-specific T cell responses.
James DeGregori, PhD	Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics - School of Medicine	Understanding how carcinogenic conditions promote cancer evolution and discovering pathway dependencies in cancers that can be exploited therapeutically.
Kelly Doran, PhD	Department of Immunology and Microbiology – School of Medicine	The study of host - pathogen interactions in the central nervous system and the female reproductive tract with a focus on major human pathogens including Streptococcus, Staphylococcus (MRSA), and Bacillus anthracis in order to develop new therapeutic approaches to prevent GBS maternal colonization and neonatal disease.
Breck Duerkop, PhD	Department of Immunology and Microbiology – School of Medicine	Mobile elements in bacteria including bacteriophages, plasmids, and insertion sequences to understand how these elements interact with their bacterial hosts and impact human health.
Julia Dunn, PhD	Department of Pediatrics – Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition – School of Medicine	Explores innate immunity with the goal of revolutionizing treatment of allergic diseases.
Gidon Felsen, PhD	Department of Physiology and Biophysics – School of Medicine	How the nervous system makes and acts upon decisions using electrophysiological, behavioral, pharmacological, molecular, and computational methods to study how sensory representations are transformed into plans for motor output.
Heide Ford, PhD	Department of Pharmacology – School of Medicine	Understanding the parallels between normal development and tumorigenesis/tumor progression by looking at developmental transcription factors and the immune microenvironment using mouse and zebrafish models.
Rachel Friedman, PhD	Department of Immunology and Microbiology – School of Medicine	Understanding how T cell interactions with antigen presenting cells at the disease site and how this can result in either T cell activation or tolerance with the objective of developing therapeutic interventions to disrupt pathogenic cellular interactions that promote autoimmunity.
Emily Gibson, PhD	CU Denver Engineering Department of Bioengineering	Develop novel optical devices using multiphoton, superresolution and structured illumination microscopy applied to living systems with the goal of aiding basic neuroscience research and development of clinical tools.
Michael Harris - Love, PT, MPT, DSc, FGSA	Physical Therapy - School of Medicine	Geriatric Physical Therapy, Muscle Disease, Autoimmune Disorders
Audrey Hendricks, PhD	Department of Biomedical Informatics – School of Medicine	Use biomedical research and statistical and machine learning method to develop and apply methods to improve the utility and equity of large, publicly available genetic resources, identify the biological mechanisms of healthy diets, and elucidate the genomic underpinnings of conditions and traits.
Blake Hill, PhD	Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences – Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences	The fundamental events that regulate mitochondrial homeostasis in disease with the goal of determining how proteins interact with other biological macromolecules to control these basic processes in healthy cells and go awry to cause disease.
Christene Huang, PhD	Department of Surgery, Divisions of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and Transplant Surgery - School of Medicine	Transplantation immunology with a focus on developing clinically relevant protocols for the establishment of transplantation tolerance
Ethan Hughes, PhD	Department of Cell & Developmental Biology - School of Medicine	Understand how neuron-glial interactions modulate brain function and contribute to pathology in neurodegenerative disease by studying oligodendrocyte lineage cells with neurons in the adult cerebral cortex.
Aaron Johnson, PhD	Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics - School of Medicine	The formation and regulation of chromatin domains and their roles in epigenetic genome regulation.
Craig Jordan, PhD	Division of Hematology – School of Medicine	Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Leukemia Stem Cells.
Ross Kedl, PhD	Department of Immunology & Microbiology - School of Medicine	Understand the boundary between the innate and adaptive immune systems and seek to identify practical methods of intervention for the purposes of vaccine discovery, development and design.
Elizabeth Kovacs, PhD	Department of Surgery, Division of GI, Trauma, and Endocrine Surgery – School of Medicine	The effects of advanced age and alcohol misuse on inflammatory responses after burn trauma or infection.
Arjun Krishnan, PhD	Department of Biomedical Informatics – School of Medicine	Diverse team of researchers working in the areas of computational biology and biomedical data science. We are passionate about using machine learning to turn massive collections of public data into biomedical insights about the genes and molecular mechanisms underlying complex diseases.
Daniel LaBarbera, PhD	Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences – Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences	Multidisciplinary cancer drug discovery and development, including high-throughput and high-content screening (HTS/HCS); drug design and medicinal chemistry; cancer biology and lead drug mechanism of action determination, and in vitro and in vivo pharmacology.
Carlo Marchetti, PhD	Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease – School of Medicine	The role of inflammatory cytokines as mediators of disease - specifically identification of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptors and their role in infections and diseases such as pancreatic cancer and melanoma.
Manisha Patel, PhD	Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences – Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences	Understand the role of redox processes and metabolic mechanisms in epilepsy, aging and toxicant-induced brain injury using biochemical, metabolic, transgenic, and translational approaches.
Karin Payne, PhD	Department of Orthopedics – School of Medicine	The development of functional regenerative medicine approaches for bone and cartilage tissues, with a particular interest in treating growth plate cartilage injuries affecting the pediatric population.
Roberta Pelanda, PhD	Department of Immunology & Microbiology - School of Medicine	Uncovering the molecular pathways that guide the development, selection and activation of autoreactive and non-autoreactive B cells and that, thus, lead to the generation of the naïve B cell repertoire.
Vanessa Phelan, PhD	Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences – Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences	Seeking to understand how bacteria and fungi in the human body cooperate to influence antimicrobial resistance, drug efficacy and toxicity, and human health
Nidia Quillinan, PhD	Department of Anesthesiology – School of Medicine	The excitability and plasticity changes in the brain following cerebral ischemia. Of particular interest is in the cerebellar networks that are affected by stroke and cardiac arrest and the role of sex hormones and their receptors in acute neuronal injury and long-term hippocampal function.
Tania Reis, PhD	Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes – School of Medicine	Understanding the genetic basis of obesity and neuronal control of energy balance using Drosophila as a model system.
Diego Restrepo, PhD	Department of Cell and Developmental Biology	Understand how brain circuits mediate decision making using high density electrical recording, advanced microscopy, closed loop optogenetics and computational neuroscience.
Joseph Sakai, MD	Department of Psychiatry, Substance Dependence – School of Medicine	Drug abuse, conduct disorder, & substance use disorder
Mario Santiago, PhD	Division of Infectious Diseases – School of Medicine	The interplay between the innate and adaptive immune response against retroviruses to conceptually advance vaccine and cure strategies against HIV/AIDS.
Joseph Schacht, PhD	Department of Psychiatry, Substance Dependence – School of Medicine	Neurobiological measures to improve treatment for alcohol and addictive disorders.
David Schwartz, MD	Division of Pulmonary Sciences & Critical Care – School of Medicine	Genetics and genomics of pulmonary fibrosis, gene discovery in innate immunity and epigenetics of environmental lung disease.
Tamim Shaikh, PhD	Department of Pediatrics Clinical Genetics and Metabolism - School of Medicine	Copy number variation in human disease, genome instability and mechanisms of rearrangement, and discovery and functional characterization of candidate disease genes
Matthew Sikora, PhD	Department of Pathology - School of Medicine	To understand mechanisms of response and resistance to steroid hormones and anti-estrogen therapies in breast cancer.
Jamie Studts, PhD	Division of Medical Oncology - School of Medicine	Population Health Science for Lung Cancer Prevention and Control
Richard Tobin, PhD	Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology – School of Medicine	The interactions of innate or innate like immune cells with adaptive immune cells to generate effective immune responses.
Raul Torres, PhD	Department of Immunology & Microbiology-School of Medicine	Identifying novel tumor-derived suppressive mechanisms for potential therapeutic use.
Linda van Dyk, PhD	Department of Immunology and Microbiology – School of Medicine	The interactions between virus and host in health and disease - specifically with gammaherpesviruses.
Breelyn Wilky, MD	Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology – School of Medicine	Translational research related to sarcoma and early immunotherapy protocols: Understanding how patient sarcomas respond to immune therapy and testing new immune-related treatments in mouse models of sarcomas.
Yuwen Zhu, PhD	Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology - School of Medicine	Discovery of novel immunosuppressive pathways and their applications in cancer therapy
ADDITIONAL MENTOR POSSIBILITIES
Go to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Graduate Program Website to learn more about our graduate programs and faculty to identify additional possible mentors you would be interested in working with during your PIKE-PREP experience.

 

Mentor Responsibilities

Research Experience

• Collaborate with the scholar to design and conduct a research project.
• Provide research-related guidance and support.
• Help the scholar prepare a review article for publication.

IDP Development and Review

• Support the scholar and team in developing the IDP.
• Participate in tri-monthly IDP review meetings to monitor the scholar’s progress towards their goals.

Meetings and Activities

• Meet regularly (weekly) with the scholar.
• Attend and support PREP-related activities, which may include teaching on a topic in which you are an expert.
  

Training

• Attend “Mentor Training”, “Unconscious Bias”, and “Harassment Training."

Program Reviews and Evaluation

• Complete quarterly mentor surveys and progress reports on the scholar’s progress in the program.
• Review Ph.D. and MD-Ph.D. school applications.
• Attend and provide feedback on the scholar’s research presentation.

Celebrate

• Attend the end-of-year celebration.
• Enjoy your mentorship experience!

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is the largest academic medical center in the Rocky Mountain region. As one of the only integrated health science campuses in the country, our campus brings together research facilities, hospitals, biotech/industry organizations, and clinics to transform healthcare.

There are five health professional schools at the Anschutz Medical Campus:

• The School of Medicine
• The Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
• The Colorado School of Public Health
• The College of Nursing
• The School of Dental Medicine

School of Medicine

Biomedical Science Graduate Programs

The Biomedical Science PhD Programs specialize in conducting basic and translational research that can bridge the research and clinical worlds. Through this graduate program, students can study cancer biology, cell biology, stem cells, and development, computational bioscience, human medical genetics and genomics, immunology, integrated physiology, microbiology, molecular biology, neuroscience, rehabilitation science, or structural biology and biochemistry.

Medical Scientist Training Program

The Medical Scientist Training Program provides rigorous training for students interested in a career in clinical medicine and basic science research. In this program, students will gain training to excel as clinician-scientists.

Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD Programs

At the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD Programs breakthrough research and groundbreaking discoveries happen every day. The PhD programs include specializations in pharmaceutical sciences, clinical translational science, pharmaceutical outcomes research, and molecular toxicology.

Colorado School of Public Health

The Colorado School of Public Health takes a trailblazing approach to the science and art of public health by applying a blend of research and practice to the real world to improve health. In this program, students can earn a PhD or a Doctor of Public Health in Community & Behavioral Health, Environmental & Occupational Health, or Epidemiology. 

Nursing Graduate Program

The PhD in Nursing Program is designed to prepare nurse scholars to advance the art, science, and practice of nursing. In this program, students will focus on health care systems, caring science, or bio-behavioral science-based research.

Dental Medicine Research

Although the School of Dental Medicine does not offer a PhD in Craniofacial Biology, graduate students have the opportunity to conduct oral health research by enrolling in the graduate training programs with the biomedical science graduate program and electing to work with the School of Dental Medicine research faculty who are members of these training programs.

Eligibility

PIKE-PREP is intended for recent baccalaureate graduates who have a committed desire to pursue a PhD or MD-PhD in biomedical research and need one year of training to be ready to enroll in graduate school.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in a cancer-related research area AND need two years of additional training and career development to be prepared for admission to graduate school, consider applying to the ASCENT post-baccalaureate program instead.

PIKE-PREP is not intended for students who have not committed to a future career in research or for students pursuing an MD program. If you are interested in pursuing an MD degree and are also interested in conducting research, please apply to the B2MR program instead which is a 2-year post-baccalaureate program for future MD and MD-PhD students.

Before applying, ensure that you meet the following criteria. Applicants must:

• Be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
• Belong to an underrepresented group in the biomedical field per the NIH guidelines which includes: Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, having a disability, or being from an educationally, culturally, socially, and/or economically disadvantaged background.
  • For more information see the Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity.
• Have a baccalaureate degree in a biomedical field within the last three years or completed before entry into PIKE-PREP from an accredited college or university.
• Demonstrate a strong scientific background in the biological, chemical, and physical sciences in addition to mathematics as demonstrated through undergraduate coursework.
• Be committed to pursuing a PhD or MD-PhD program in biomedical research following participation in the PIKE-PREP program.
• Not be enrolled in any graduate program during the PIKE-PREP program period. 

Note: While there is no minimum GPA requirement for admission to this program, the applicant’s cumulative and science GPA as well as the number and type of science-related courses completed will serve as an indicator of readiness for graduate-level work and prior research experience will be viewed favorably.

We encourage all interested applicants to apply. If you have questions about your eligibility, please reach out to us to discuss this further (PIKE.PREP@cuanschutz.edu).

Candidate Selection/Review Process

Only complete applications, for which all components are received, will be reviewed. We encourage early applications as we will do rolling admissions prior to the final candidate review which will occur after the application due date (See Important Dates). An application will be considered complete once the application is turned in and both of the primary letters of recommendation have been submitted.

The selection committee will consider your eligibility criteria, coursework, grades, research experiences, answers on the application, statement of purpose/intent, and letters of recommendation. We are looking to bring in scholars that have demonstrated a clear passion for science and scientific research and who intend to enroll in a PhD or MD-PhD program immediately following PIKE-PREP. We also want to understand why you are interested in PIKE-PREP and what you need to develop a competitive graduate program application as well as how the program will benefit you moving forward into a PhD or MD-PhD program.

Application Reviews

We will review applications that are completed on a rolling basis (must have both primary letters of recommendation submitted to be reviewed). 

You will be notified if you receive early admission into the program. All other applications will be rolled into the final review occurring after the March 2, 2025 due date.

How do I apply to PIKE-PREP?

Application dates and deadlines are listed at the top of the page.

There are three post-baccalaureate programs at CU Anschutz. How do I know which one to apply to? Should I apply to all three?

No, you should not apply to all three programs. Each of these post-baccalaureate training programs is different from the other two, and you should read about each program in depth before deciding which program to apply to. Identify the program that best suits your interests and needs and apply to that one specifically. Some guidelines to help you make your decision between the three programs:

1. PIKE-PREP: If you are interested in attending a PhD or MD-PhD program in any biomedical-related science field and only need one year of additional training to be prepared for enrollment in graduate school, apply to this program.
2. ASCENT: If you are specifically interested in pursuing a PhD or MD-PhD in a cancer-related research area, AND you need two years of additional training to be prepared for enrollment in graduate school, apply to this program.
3. B2MR: If you are interested in becoming a clinician scientist (MD-PhD or MD who does research) AND you need two years of additional training to be prepared for enrollment to medical school or MSTP/MD-PhD programs, apply to this program.

Note: If you are a student who is interested in becoming an MD but not interested in research, you are not a fit for any of the post-baccalaureate programs we offer.

Once I start the application, can I save my progress and resume at a later time?

Yes, you will be able to start the application and return to it to complete it at a later time. You will be prompted to write down the code that is given to you at this time and enter your email to receive the link to return to your incomplete application. As you will only be allowed to create one application, it is important you save both of these or you will not be able to return to your application to complete it. Your application won’t be submitted to the PIKE-PREP team until you click finish and submit.

Will my application be considered if my references have not submitted their letter of recommendation by the due date?

Your application will be reviewed (following the application deadline) as long as at least two of your letters of recommendation have been turned in even if both of those letters are not your primary two letters. Note that missing one or both of your primary letters could affect the committee’s consideration of you as a candidate.

How soon after the application deadline will I be notified if I am accepted into the program?

All applicants will be notified of the results between April 15th and May 1st.

Who should I get to write my letters of recommendation for the program?

Your letters of recommendation should be written by people who are able to attest to your personal, academic, and research skills and interests. A letter of recommendation from a research mentor is ideal if you have had research experience. Faculty members who have worked with you in laboratory-based courses and who know you and your research interests would be other good sources for letters of recommendation. All letters of recommendation should address your commitment to pursuing a PhD or MD-PhD degree and your future career plans and goals.

What should I do if my recommenders did not get the recommendation request emailed to them?

First, double check that you entered their email into the application correctly. Next, ask your recommenders to search their inbox, spam, and trash for PIKE-PREP. Our recommendation requests can easily end up in spam or be accidentally deleted. If they still do not have the recommendation request, reach out to us at PIKE.PREP@cuanschutz.edu and we can regenerate the email request to your recommender.

I see there is a list of mentors on the PIKE-PREP website that I might have the opportunity to work with during my time as a PIKE-PREP scholar. Do I need to select my desired mentor before applying to the program?

Potential mentors are listed on the website for your information. In the application you will have the opportunity to note any potential mentors you are interested in working with, however, ultimately mentor placement will be done by the PIKE-PREP leadership team. We will strive to place you with the best mentor based on your research interests. Scholars should not contact mentors and try to arrange their own lab placement. That is the job of the PIKE-PREP leadership team.

What if I am interested in working with a specific faculty member that is not listed as a current PIKE-PREP mentor?

If you have a specific faculty member in mind that you would like to work with as a PIKE-PREP scholar that is not listed as a vetted and trained mentor with the program, we are happy to reach out to them to see if they are interested in serving as a PIKE-PREP mentor and working with you as a scholar. You will have the option to provide us with their name in the PIKE-PREP application.

Does my baccalaureate degree have to be from a biomedical field if I have taken numerous and well rounded science courses?

Yes, your baccalaureate degree must be from a biomedical field. Having a degree in a biomedical field from an accredited institution allows you to demonstrate that you have the foundational knowledge and skills needed to pursue admissions to a top-tier biomedical graduate school. Students applying to PIKE-PREP should have completed rigorous coursework in the biological, chemical, and physical sciences in addition to mathematics. If you have specific questions about your eligibility based on your degree or coursework, please email PIKE.PREP@cuanschutz.edu.

I completed my baccalaureate degree more than three years ago but have been taking courses since this time. Do I still qualify to apply?

In order to be eligible to participate in PIKE-PREP, you must have completed your baccalaureate degree within three years or less of the program start date.

Parental, medical, or other well-justified leave for personal or family situations is not included in the 3-year eligibility limit, nor is national service (e.g., Peace Corps, or service in the National Guard or Armed Forces Reserves).

I received my first baccalaureate degree more than three years ago but I returned to school and received a second baccalaureate degree within the last three years. Am I eligible to apply to PIKE-PREP?

Yes, as long as the last baccalaureate degree you earned was no more than 36 months from the start date of PIKE-PREP, and it was in a biomedical field you are eligible to apply.

I have already earned or am completing my Master’s degree. Am I still eligible for the program?

Yes, you are still eligible to apply to PIKE-PREP even if you have earned a Master’s degree. The eligibility requirement is that you may not be enrolled in a degree-seeking program at the same time as you are participating in PIKE-PREP AND that you earned your baccalaureate degree within 36 months of the start of PIKE-PREP.

While my coursework demonstrates a strong scientific background in biological, chemical, and physical science as well as mathematics, I struggled in one or two of these courses. Should I still apply for the program?

Yes, you should still apply. The goal of PIKE-PREP is to support our scholars in addressing areas they may have deficiencies in that would impact their ability to be accepted into competitive graduate programs. You will have the opportunity to retake undergraduate courses or take graduate-level courses with support from the PIKE-PREP mentors and team during your time in the program.

I am uncertain if I would like to do research and pursue a PhD or MD-PhD degree in the future. Is PIKE-PREP a good program to enable me to explore research as a future career?

No, PIKE-PREP is not an exploration program. PIKE-PREP is for scholars who have already decided to pursue a future career in research and who need more support, development, and training in order to have a competitive application to graduate school.

I do not have prior research experience. Should I still apply?

Yes. You do not have to have prior research experience to be accepted into PIKE-PREP. This may be the area where you have a gap that PIKE-PREP can address in your graduate program application. You should, however, already have experiences that have led you to know that a future career in biomedical research is your desired career path and be able to articulate that in your PIKE-PREP application.

What are you looking for in a competitive application?

The selection committee will consider your eligibility criteria, coursework, grades, research experiences, answers on the application, statement of purpose/intent, and letters of recommendation. We are looking to bring in scholars that have demonstrated a clear passion for science and scientific research and who intend to enroll in a PhD or MD-PhD program immediately following PIKE-PREP. We also want to understand why you are interested in PIKE-PREP and what you need to develop a competitive graduate program application as well as how the program will benefit you moving forward into a PhD or MD-PhD program.

Can I visit the campus and labs before making a decision to either apply for or accept an invitation to join the program cohort?

At this time we are unable to accommodate lab and site visits, however, applicants are encouraged to review the information on the PIKE-PREP website, reach out to the PIKE-PREP program team with any questions at PIKE.PREP@cuanschutz.edu, visit the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus website, and the Biomedical Science Graduate Program website.

What if I am not eligible to apply to PIKE-PREP? What other recommendations do you have to help me prepare for a PhD program?

There are other preparatory programs at universities across the country. You could research to find other programs that might be a better fit for you. Alternatively, interested students could consider obtaining a job in a research laboratory such as a research assistant, research coordinator, or laboratory technician. These positions may also offer tuition remission or reimbursement for employees to take graduate courses while working. These experiences could also help you prepare for graduate school and enable you to further develop the skills and experience you need to be accepted to a graduate program. To find listings for positions at CU go to the CU Careers Website. If you are interested in receiving research mentoring, check out the National Research Mentoring Network, which connects students with potential mentors across different disciplines.

Do you have other questions? Reach out to the PIKE-PREP team at PIKE.PREP@cuanschutz.edu

Before beginning your application, please have the following information ready and completed:

1. Copy of your Resume or CV.
   
   
2. Copies of the official or unofficial transcripts from all universities/colleges attended. The graduation date must be included. 
   
   
3. Names and contact information for a minimum of two and a maximum of four faculty members who have agreed to write and submit a professional reference on your behalf by the application deadline.
   • Note: Your letters of recommendation should be professional references from your college/university faculty members who know you personally and who can attest to your future career plans and goals. Examples include science course professors and instructors, professional counselors, and major advisors.
     
     
4. You will be asked on the application to identify your top three research areas you are interested in for your PIKE-PREP research experience. Please review the information in the “Research Areas and Program Mentors” tab on the PIKE-PREP website and have your top three identified for both before beginning your application.
   
   
5. Write a one-page personal statement (single-spaced, with 0.5-inch margins, in 11-12 pt. font). 
   Use your personal statement to help the PIKE-PREP admissions committee to get to know you, understand your reasons for wanting to attend PIKE-PREP at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and learn about your professional goals. Please be sure to describe:
   • Why you have chosen to apply to PIKE-PREP,
   • What you hope to gain from participation in the program on a personal and professional level,
   • Any life experiences, including personal challenges, that have impacted you and your decision to pursue a career in biomedical research, and
   • Yourself, your sense of identity, and how this will contribute to the diversity of PIKE-PREP, CU Anschutz, and ultimately the field of biomedical research.
     
     
6. Write a one-page research statement (single-spaced, with 0.5-inch margins, in 11-12 pt. font). Use your research statement to summarize your past research experiences and research-related classroom experiences if you have not had a formal research experience. In addition, please include a description of:
   • Your interest in and passion for biomedical research,
   • Specific research fields or topics of study you find most interesting and why,
   • How you have contributed to or solved a challenging problem or research question (if applicable),
   • What you have learned about yourself through your past research experiences or research related classroom experiences, and
   • Your professional goals, how a PhD fits with these goals, and where you envision your career to be in 5 to 10 years.

Once you begin your application you will have the option to save your work, resume at a later time, and review your application before submitting it.

Applications are now closed.

 Astrid Ardón López

Hello! My name is Astrid Ardón-López.  I was born and raised in Honduras, and I moved to the United States in 2018. I received my Associate in Arts degree, with an emphasis in Math and Science from Cypress College. I then transferred to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) where I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Chemistry with an emphasis in Biochemistry. As an NSF-funded SPIRES scholar, I studied the use of MiraLAX as a precipitating agent to crystallize proteins for X-ray crystallography. Through summer research programs, I have assisted Civil Engineering, Immunology, and Chemical Biology research projects at Cal Poly Pomona, the University of Arizona, and the University of California, Irvine. As a PIKE-PREP scholar, I joined Dr. Christene Huang’s Lab which studies transplantation immunology with a focus on developing clinically relevant protocols for the establishment of transplantation tolerance. In the future, I aspire to merge my passion for medicine and research to explore innovative approaches for the early detection of life-threatening diseases to ensure timely and effective treatment interventions.

 Jenna Banh

My name is Jenna Banh, and I was born and raised in Colorado. I graduated Cum Laude with Honors from the University of Colorado - Denver with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Biology. During my undergraduate studies, I had the privilege of working in a lab focused on the mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease and Down Syndrome in the Locus Coeruleus region. I was also a Gardner Scholar as well in UCD's Psychology department. Since joining the PIKE-PREP program, I have been working in Dr. Gidon Felsen’s lab, studying the circuitry involved in saccadic eye movements and the neurons responsible for this phenomenon, particularly in the superior colliculus and surrounding regions. My goal is to pursue a Ph.D. in neurodegenerative research, and I am excited about the opportunities the PIKE-PREP program offers to nurture this passion. Outside of the lab, I am a dancer, training in hip-hop, heels, and various other styles. I also enjoy spending time with my family and friends, traveling, and exploring new culinary experiences!

 Brooke Linden

I was born and raised in Colorado Springs, CO, and Tucson, AZ, was home for four years. In May 2023, I graduated from the University of Arizona Summa Cum Laude with Honors, earning a B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology with a Biochemistry minor. I was a MARC scholar at the University of Arizona and conducted undergraduate research in the Capaldi Lab in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. My undergraduate work focused on identifying novel cellular regulators implicated in TORC1 functioning. At the University of Colorado Anschutz, I work in the Davila Research Lab in the Department of Medical Oncology, investigating tumor-specific immune cell responses in cancer. I am pursuing an MD/PhD with a future goal of working in oncology clinical research as a physician-scientist. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family, friends, and pets!

 Hajjia Mohammed-Gipson

I’m Hajjia Mohammed-Gipson, and I graduated from Xavier University of Louisiana in May 2023 with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. I’ve lived a little bit of everywhere, but I mostly grew up in Memphis, TN. I am pursuing a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences in neuropharmacology because I love research and want to pursue a career developing drugs in the pharmaceutical industry. I have a passion to work, specifically, on psychiatric medications one day.

 Amanda Morris

My name is Amanda (Manna) Morris, and I currently work in Bruce Appel’s lab studying the role of viral infection in the development and breakdown of myelin and synapses. I graduated from the University of Colorado Denver with a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology as a Gardner Scholar, where my research was funded by the MARC U-STAR scholarship program. Previously, I have studied demyelination in the visual pathway induced by cuprizone. I plan on pursuing a PhD in neuroscience to investigate the mechanisms by which neurodegenerative diseases occur to hopefully lead to effective preventative therapies. I am a ping pong fanatic and I enjoy participating in and watching theatre.

 Evie Nguyen

Hi! My name is Evie Nguyen and I was born and raised in Glendale, Arizona. In May 2024, I graduated from Arizona State University Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Biochemistry. I am a scholar in Dr. Julia Dunn’s Immunology Lab which is affiliated with the Gastrointestinal Eosinophilic Diseases Program at Anschutz. The lab is exploring eosinophil specialization in different environments, how specialized eosinophils interact with different cells, and the re-specialization of pro-inflammatory eosinophils in assisting tissue repair. I plan to pursue a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology. In my free time, I enjoy reading, watching tv/movies, baking, crocheting, and spending time with my family.

 Skye Patterson

I grew up in West Texas and moved to San Antonio for my undergraduate studies where I graduated with honors from the University of Texas at San Antonio. I am passionate about research because I believe scientific progress is the key to creating a brighter future. I live with celiac disease, and many people I know struggle with other autoimmune related conditions. This has motivated me to investigate the mechanisms behind inflammation and disease. Ultimately, I hope to make a positive impact on the lives of those affected by these illnesses. I am currently pursuing this interest in Dr. Brek Duerkop's immunology & microbiology lab. I feel incredibly fortunate for the opportunity that PIKE-PREP has given me to pursue what I love. When I am not in the lab, I enjoy being outdoors, caring for my plants, listening to music, and creating art.

 Anne Williams
Hi, my name is Anne Zinash Williams. I was born in Ethiopia but have lived the majority of my life here in Colorado. I attended Regis University where I received my B.S. in Neuroscience summa cum laude. My current research focus is studying the effect of tolcapone, brexpiprazole, and semaglutide medications on Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Additionally, I am researching the use of DBS or deep brain stimulation as a treatment for Methamphetamine Use Disorder. I hope to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. Outside of research, I love exploring Colorado, hiking, traveling, and going to get food!

Thank you to our generous sponsors for their support with the next generation of diverse biomedical scientists!

• National Institutes of Health.
• University of Colorado Cancer Center.
• University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
• Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
• University of Colorado Department of Surgery.
• University of Colorado School of Medicine.