Gateways to the Laboratory Summer Program

In 1993, the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program was the first MD-PhD Program in the country to establish a summer program for undergraduates with a focus on the clinician-scientist pathway. 

As of 2024, 384 students have “graduated” from Gateways. Over 90% of Gateways alumni have either earned are pursuing an MD, MD-PhD, or PhD degree, including 23 who have graduated from or are currently enrolled at Tri-I.

ABRCMS 2024 group pic

Program Highlights

Every year, 15 students spend nine weeks on our tri-institutional campus learning about the rewards and challenges of becoming a physician-scientist.

Over the summer, Gateways students will:

  • Spend 9 weeks* living and studying in New York City
  • Work independently on a research project at Weill Cornell Medicine, The Rockefeller University, or Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • Receive guidance from a current MD-PhD student (a "Big Sib")
  • Participate in clinical skills and professional development workshops
  • Participate and present in weekly journal clubs
  • Shadow physicians at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
  • Volunteer at a community outreach program
  • Give oral and poster presentations about their research at The Leadership Alliance National Symposium and the final Gateways Symposium

students community clinic

Financial Support and Housing

Gateways participants are housed on the Weill Cornell campus, steps away from their research labs. Participants receive a $5,500 stipend, as well as reimbursement for travel to and from NYC.

Important Dates

Applications for the 2025 Gateways Program must be submitted before February 3, 2025 via The Leadership Alliance.

*The 2025 program will run for 8 weeks from June 9 through July 31, 2025.

Watch the video below to hear the some students from the 2019 Gateways class sing the praises of their experiences at the Tri-I. 



Dr. Katharine (Kathy) Hsu, MD, PhD (Tri-I graduating class of 1994) has been named as the new director of the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program. Dr. Hsu, currently a professor at Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and attending hemotologist and oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she leads her lab in the study of the ability of natural killer (NK) cells to fight cancer.
Dr.
NEW YORK (April 9, 2021) — Dr. Katharine Hsu, an esteemed physician-scientist who specializes in immunology research and treatment of blood cancers, has been named director of the Tri-Institutional M.D.-Ph.D. Program, a joint program between Weill Cornell Medicine, The Rockefeller University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

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