Austin Wheeler, MD, assistant professor in the UNMC Division of Rheumatology, and Christopher Conrady, MD, assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, have been selected as recipients of the College of Medicine’s Physician-Scientist Training Program award for 2025-2026.
The award recognizes their potential as promising investigators and will support their continued excellence in clinical research at UNMC. Dr. Wheeler is in his first year of funding and Dr. Conrady is in his second for the two-year award.
Dr. Wheeler, who explores the application of genetics and other multi-omic data sources and research techniques towards rheumatic disease, said this award demonstrates that the college recognizes the impact of research.
“This award is particularly meaningful to me in that it really demonstrates the commitment of UNMC to physician-scientists and support of early-career investigators,” he said. “This is a challenging time for early-career investigators trying to get their research off the ground, and I am incredibly thankful to have the support of the College of Medicine through this award.”
The award will allow him to continue moving forward with his current research.
“My work uses large data sources and has a clinical bioinformatics focus,” Dr. Wheeler said. “I have been establishing the infrastructure within our division to perform this type of research, and this additional funding will be extremely valuable in continuing to build that capacity.”
Dr. Conrady said the award allowed him to solidify his emerging scientific career while maintaining a busy practice at the Truhlsen Eye Institute.
“The award has allowed me academic independence to establish a dream of mine, an ocular immunology research lab, while balancing the life of a clinician,” Dr. Conrady said. “Without this early career investment by UNMC, it would be very difficult for me to pursue this dual career track.”
His research focus is better understanding a herpes virus of the retina that causes blindnesss.
“Our aim is to better understand the earliest immune response to the virus within the retina to identify potential therapeutic targets,” he said, adding that the work would “ultimately improve visual outcomes in the patients I see in clinic with this devastating disease.”
The UNMC College of Medicine Physician-Scientist Training Program was developed to provide research-oriented residents and fellows or junior faculty the opportunity to develop careers in biomedical research. The program’s goal is to help alleviate the critical shortage of physician-scientists in this country and to recruit and retain physician-scientists that will become productive faculty members at UNMC.