Third-year medical student Taylor Badger has embarked upon a unique learning opportunity that adds a year of intensive research experience to her medical school curriculum at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. This spring she was awarded a position in the National Institutes of Health’s Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP) class of 2022-23. She moved from her home in Springfield to the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD, to begin a year-long mentored research experience. The prestigious training is awarded to 50 candidates selected from among the top U.S. medical schools. The