Keith M. Vogt, MD, PhD, FASA, received a Medical Student Research Mentoring Merit Award at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Class of 2024 Scholars Day, which took place on Wednesday, April 10, 2024.
This honor is given to mentors who have demonstrated exceptional dedication and guidance in shepherding graduating Pitt medical students through their Longitudinal Research Projects (LRPs), a pivotal aspect of their academic journey. LRPs play a crucial role in equipping future medical professionals with the skills necessary for careers in research and clinical practice.
During the previous four years, Dr. Vogt served as a mentor to Alex Burlew, MS4, who has worked within our department since his MS1 year and who will begin training as a PGY1 resident with our program this July.
Throughout medical school, Alex conducted research investigating the effects of anesthetic drugs on brain connectivity. He worked on neuroimaging data from three human volunteer studies interrogating the effects of propofol, ketamine, fentanyl, dexmedetomidine, lidocaine, and midazolam on functional connectivity. Alex exhibited great independence and dedication to this work, making important novel contributions to the data analysis. He was able to present results of his research at two local forums and two national/international meetings during medical school. He was also a coauthor on a scientific paper published in Brain Imaging and Behavior. For some of this work, Alex was awarded funding support to participate in the Dean’s Summer Research Program, a dedicated three-month research period. He was also awarded the competitive Loren Roth Fellowship in recognition of the importance of his work to the applied research of brain function.
Sincere congratulations are extended to Dr. Vogt for his exceptional mentorship, culminating in the well-deserved recognition of the Medical Student Research Mentoring Merit Award. Equally deserving of commendation is Alex, whose LRP achievements within the Pitt Anesthesiology Neuroscience Program serve as a testament to his dedication, diligence, and scholarly prowess.