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Vinayak Subramanian, M.D.

Foster Fellow, 2024

What stood out about your research experience at UT Southwestern, and how did it shape your career?

The research environment at UT southwestern is vibrant and welcoming and has multiple opportunities for trainees at all levels to engage in meaningful research experiences. I came to UT Southwestern as a categorical Internal Medicine resident with modest research background and was able to take advantage of the UT-STARR program to take two research years during residency training to train in clinical research methods and lead a pilot randomized clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of a home-based cardiac rehab intervention for older adults with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

This was a rich and transformative project, through which I learned how to plan, execute and analyze a clinical trial under the close mentorship of Dr. Ambarish Pandey and Dr. Thomas Wang and an interdisciplinary team to address a clinically relevant problem for older adults with HFpEF. This provided a lot of perspective on what to expect from a research-oriented career and the skills and competencies required to be successful. Based on this experience I chose to pursue a research-first PSTP track for fellowship with a plan to pursue a career as a clinical investigator.

How did participating in the Seldin Symposium impact your research path?

It was a great opportunity to see the depth and breadth of research done at UT Southwestern. It's an amazing showcase of research projects that span a very wide spectrum. The Seldin Symposium offered an opportunity to highlight my projects and get formative feedback from faculty at UT Southwestern who I might not have interacted with otherwise.

What are your current research interests and goals?

My long-term career goals are to become a clinical investigator focused on developing novel interventions and strategies to improve the care of adults with cardiometabolic disease and heart failure. I am particularly interested in applying and evaluating technological solutions to improve clinical outcomes and quality of life.

What advice would you offer current Internal Medicine trainees about pursuing research?

Actively explore the research opportunities on campus and take advantage of the multiple pathways available to gain meaningful and robust research experiences by taking dedicated time to pursue them. UT Southwestern is a great place to train and learn and there are lots of opportunities. However, it's very difficult to take advantage of this environment during clinical residency or fellowship training given the competing demands for time. Having dedicated time for research allows you to be involved in impactful research and pick up skills and experience that may open unique career paths.

Representative Publications

"The Seldin Symposium offered an opportunity to highlight my projects and get formative feedback from faculty at UT Southwestern who I might not have interacted with otherwise."

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