Diabetes Virtual Camp

for future scientists and physicians

The Diabetes Virtual Camp is a virtual research internship program that invites high school, college, graduate, and professional students, medical residents, clinical fellows, postdoctoral researchers, early-career clinicians and scientists, physicians (academic or private), researchers (academic or industry), professors, pharmacists, faculty, administrators, entrepreneurs, and other healthcare professionals interested in learning about diabetes research, education, and care as well as biomedical research and academic medicine. The program, partnered with the American Diabetes Association, consists of Zoom sessions that highlight current topics in diabetes research and treatment as well as career paths in medicine and science. The sessions are led by Experts, who are renowned diabetes researchers and clinicians from reputable universities and institutions across the country. The interactive sessions include a post-session Q&A period following each expert session, a pre-session Q&A period proceeding each day’s sessions, an open mic forum at the end of the day’s sessions, and post-session tasks to be completed by the interns. The virtual program is intended for students, trainees, clinicians, researchers, faculty, and health professionals sharing a common goal of improving diabetes research, education, and care. The program is free to all registered attendees, who will receive a program certificate upon completion and fulfilling the program requirements. The mission of the Diabetes Virtual Camp is to educate the next generation of physicians and scientists from all around the world, leading the paths to address health inequity while finding a cure for diabetes. We invite you to visit the News page to learn more about the past and upcoming programs and follow us on social media, Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/diabetesvirtualcamp), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/diabetesvirtualcamp/), and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/diabetesvirtualcamp/).

Since the inaugural Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp in 2020, the Diabetes Virtual Camp (DVC) has completed 7 virtual internship programs for 2,744 students from 52 countries worldwide and 48 states in the United States. The DVC interns represent diverse demographics in gender, age (from 13 to 70 years of age), and ethnicity. The DVC interns also represent a diverse educational and professional status, including high school students, college students, post-undergraduates, nursing students, nutritionists/dieticians, graduate students, pharmacy students, medical students, medical residents (M.D.), clinical fellows (M.D.), postdoctoral researchers (Ph.D. or M.D.), early-career clinicians or research scientists, clinicians (academic or private), scientists (academic or industry), professors, pharmacists, faculty, administrators, entrepreneurs, and other healthcare professionals representing over 700 colleges and institutions globally. Many of our interns are underrepresented minorities in medicine and science, and we welcome their efforts to address health disparities particularly affecting obesity and diabetes. Many of our interns also have type 1 or type 2 diabetes or live with families with diabetes as we share a common goal of advancing knowledge in diabetes and pursuing a career in medicine, research, and other healthcare fields. We are grateful for the commitment and support of 72 speakers, who are renowned scientists and physicians from leading universities and research institutions, for their exciting and inspiring presentations on diabetes research and therapeutics. We also thank the American Diabetes Association and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust for their continuing support of our program as we share a common goal of improving diabetes research, education, and care. Together, we are educating the next generation of physicians and scientists from all around the world, leading the paths to address health inequity while finding a cure for diabetes.

Summer Camp 2024

July 19 - August 2

15-session program scheduled for
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
at 11 am - 12:15 pm (Eastern Time in the U.S.)
**except for the Closing Sessions on August 2 ending at 1 pm.**

Online registration is now closed.

Program Information

Past Programs

Summer 2020

  • Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp is a 4-week virtual research internship program that consists of twelve 1-hour Zoom sessions that highlight current diabetes research topics and academic career path with introductory lectures on diabetes, investigative process of research, and preparing for medical/graduate school. Individual 30-minute sessions are led by 17 renowned diabetes researchers and clinicians from reputable universities across the U.S.

Fall 2020

  • The Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp is a 4-week virtual research internship program that consists of fourteen Zoom sessions that highlight current topics on diabetes research and treatment as well as academic career path in medicine and science. There are three 1-hour sessions on introduction to diabetes, the causal relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes, and preparing for medical school & graduate school. There are also ten 30-min sessions that consist of a 25-minute presentation followed by a 5-minute Q&A section. The sessions are led by 11 renowned diabetes researchers and clinicians from reputable universities across the country.

Winter 2021

  • The Diabetes Virtual Winter Camp is a 4-week virtual research internship program that consists of 14 Zoom sessions, highlighting current topics on diabetes research and treatment as well as an academic career path in medicine and science. There are three 1-hour sessions on introduction to diabetes, the causal relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes, and preparing for medical school & graduate school. There are ten 30-min sessions that consist of a 25-minute presentation followed by a 5-minute Q&A section. The sessions are led by 11 renowned diabetes scientists and clinicians from reputable universities across the country.

Summer 2021

  • The Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2021 is a virtual research internship program that consists of 12 Zoom sessions that highlight current topics on diabetes research and treatment as well as an academic career path in medicine and science. There are three 1-hour sessions on “Introduction to Diabetes,” “Obesity & Type 2 Diabetes”, and “Preparing for Medical School & Scientific Career,” with each session followed by a 15-min Q&A section. There are seven 30-min sessions that consist of a 25-minute presentation followed by a 5-minute Q&A section. The sessions are led by 8 renowned diabetes scientists and clinicians from reputable universities across the country.

Summer 2022

  • The Diabetes Virtual Summer Camp 2022 is a virtual research internship program that consists of 15 Zoom sessions that highlight current topics on diabetes research and treatment as well as an academic career path in medicine and science. There are three one-hour sessions on “Introduction to Diabetes,” “Obesity & Type 2 Diabetes”, and “Preparing for Medical School & Scientific Career” with each session ending with a 15-min Q&A period. There are ten 35-min sessions that consist of a 25-minute presentation followed by a 10-minute Q&A period. The sessions are led by 11 renowned diabetes scientists and clinicians from reputable universities across the country.

Fall 2023

  • The Diabetes Virtual Fall Camp 2023 is a 3-week virtual research internship program that consists of 14 Zoom sessions that highlight current topics in diabetes research and treatment as well as career paths in medicine and science. The sessions are led by the Experts, who are renowned diabetes researchers and clinicians from universities around the world and will include a Q&A period at the end of each session.

Our recent research, just published in Nature Communications on June 29, 2024, unveils a new and exciting role of IFNgamma-IL12 axis in regulating intercellular crosstalk in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Despite the fact that metabolic liver disease is an emerging health issue affecting one in four adults in the U.S., 30% of individuals over 60 years old, and 75% of subjects with obesity, there is currently only 1 drug recently approved by the FDA for treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). To that end, our findings identify critical roles for the IFNgamma-IL12 axis in modulating obesity-mediated insulin resistance, inflammation, and fatty liver progression to MASH, paving the way for future development of drugs selectively targeting IFNgamma signaling and IL-12 as potential therapies to treat metabolic liver disease in humans. Our research is funded by a recently awarded R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (1R01-DK133772). This article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49633-y.

Diabetes Virtual Camp is supported in-part by: