Below you can review information on the BIDMC researchers available to mentor students as part of the Summer 2027 BIDMC-Shapiro Scholars program, including their Harvard Catalyst page (if available) and the project they have available for Summer 2027 research. Projects will be submitted through February 2027, and removed once they are filled.
Mentors and projects will be added beginning in September 2026!
Mentor: Dr. Kenneth Mukamal, MD
Opportunity Title: Population Health Research on Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Dementia in Older Adults
Opportunity Type: Clinical Research
Opportunity Description: The Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) is an ongoing cohort study that began in 1990 and has continued to follow 5,888 older adults through the end of their lives. Extensive information has been collected on a continual basis, including blood samples for genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, environmental phenotyping, and collection of all hospitalizations and Medicare claims. Analytic support is available, so that students can (but need not) conduct their own biostatistical analyses.
Mentor: Mingyu Zhang, PhD
Opportunity Title: Metal Mixtures and Women's Mid-life Cardiometabolic Health in Project Viva
Opportunity Type: Clinical Research
Opportunity Description: The goal of this project is to investigate the impact of exposure to a "mixture" of heavy metals and trace elements during pregnancy and at 3 years postpartum on women’s mid-life cardiometabolic health. Additionally, it examines how adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors (i.e., healthy diet, physical activity, avoiding smoking, and adequate sleep) may mitigate the adverse effects of heavy metals. Participants are from Project Viva, a prospective pregnancy cohort initiated in 1999-2002 to study how environmental and lifestyle factors affect the long-term health of women and their children (https://www.projectviva.org/). Students will have the opportunity to lead research projects, conduct data management and analysis, present at scientific conferences, and author peer-reviewed manuscripts. This research opportunity is based at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with close collaboration with the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute.
Mentor: Mingyu Zhang, PhD
Opportunity Title: Pregnancy Metal Exposures and Diabetes Risks Across the Reproductive Lifespan of Black and Hispanic Women
Opportunity Type: Clinical Research
Opportunity Description: The goal of this project is to understand the impacts of pregnancy exposure to a mixture of toxic metals (Pb, Hg, Cd) and trace elements (Mn, Se) on diabetes risks across the reproductive lifespan of Black and Hispanic women, from gestational diabetes (GDM) during pregnancy to type 2 diabetes (T2D) in mid-life. The project also aims to uncover how metals could be an underrecognized source of racial and ethnic disparities in the progression from GDM to incident T2D. Participants are from the Boston Birth Cohort, a large, long-standing (over 20 years of follow-up), prospective U.S. cohort that comprises predominantly urban, low-income, and minority women. Students will have the opportunity to lead research projects, conduct data management and analysis, present at scientific conferences, and author peer-reviewed manuscripts. This research opportunity is based at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with close collaboration with the Center on the Early Life Origins of Disease at Johns Hopkins University.
