Vivien

Program Eligibility

  • Interest in Biomedical Research
  • Rising 9th or 10th grader
  • 3.5 Overall GPA
  • Completed Application
  • Report Card
  • Summary of Journal Article from Scientific American
  • Medical Information Consent Form
  • Letters of Recommendations

Program Activities

The goal of the Vivien Thomas Summer Research Program is to provide high school students with a biomedical laboratory experience, which will expose them to biomedical research in an authentic laboratory setting. The program, is designed to access current on going research at MSM and provide a supportive environment to nurture an interest in scientific experimentation. The six-week (6) program is organized for students to have a concentrated research experience for two consecutive years.

The students participating in the program receive a broad overview of the diversity that exists in research, develop skills in various laboratory techniques, learn to demonstrate procedures in a research area of interest, conduct hands-on research experiments, and acquire computer skills in research presentation.

T. Thomas was born in New Iberia, Louisiana on August 29, 19 His family later moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was educated in the public schools. In 1929, after working as an orderly in a private infirmary to raise money for college, he enrolled as a premedical student at Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial College. The bank crash that year wiped out his life's savings, forcing him to drop out of school. In 1930, he took a position at Vanderbilt University as a laboratory assistant with Alfred Blalock. Thomas' abilities as a surgical assistant and research associate were of the highest quality, and when Blalock moved to Johns Hopkins in 1941 he asked Thomas to accompany him. Thomas joined Blalock's surgical team and helped to develop the procedure used in the "blue baby" operation. He helped train many of the surgeons at Johns Hopkins in the delicate techniques necessary for heart and lung operations. Thomas was a member of the medical school faculty from 1976 until 1985 and was presented with the degree of Honorary Doctor of Laws by the Johns Hopkins University in 1976. Today, in operating rooms all over the world, there are great surgeons performing life saving surgical procedures who received their training from Vivien Thomas. His achievements stand as a testament to the power of research, discovery and persistence to improve the health of generations to come, a legacy we honor with the naming of the Vivien Thomas High School Research Program at Morehouse School of medicine.

Morehouse School of Medicine

Vivien Thomas High School Research Program

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Webpage Created by: L. A. Nov. 2004
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Program Information

The Vivien Thomas Research Program for high school students was established to provide experiences in the research laboratories at the Morehouse School of Medicine. Students conduct research for 6 weeks under the direction of a medical school faculty member and learn the content, process and methodology involved in inquiry science. They serve as apprentices in biomedical research laboratories and conduct experiments in conjunction with real research being investigated by MSM faculty, research professors, and laboratory technicians. At the end of this summer experience, the students present their research findings to the faculty and staff at MSM.

Program Contact: Wanda Harvey, (404) 752-1843/harveyw@msm.edu

L.L.D.