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Primary Care Research Fellowship

Application Requirements

We accept clinicians (physicians, nurses, pharmacists) and non-clinicians (e.g., social scientists, public health professionals, and others with doctoral degrees) who are looking to develop their careers as leaders in the primary care research enterprise in the United States.   

We welcome applicants from across a diversity of clinical and nonclinical disciplinary backgrounds. Physicians (MDs/DOs) from any primary care specialty, and doctoral level nurses, dentists, pharmacists, social workers, and clinical and non-clinical social science fields including psychology, sociology, political science, economics, anthropology, sociology, communications and information sciences, history, and other relevant fields are encouraged to apply.  

Candidates from backgrounds underrepresented in healthcare and healthcare research are strongly encouraged to apply.

We are currently accepting applications on an ongoing basis.

  • Apply via email to Dr. Kleinman at Larry.Kleinman@rutgers.edu, Sandee Moroso-Fela at sandee.moroso@rutgers.edu, and Dr. Schmitz at ks1692@rwjms.rutgers.edu.

  • Send current CV with cover letter and 1-2 page personal statement including research interests, experience, and goals for this fellowship.

  • Please provide names and contact information for 3 references, which are required before the appointment can be finalized.

The Rutgers Transdisciplinary Program in Primary Care Research (TraP PCR) is a full-time, postdoctoral 2-3 year mentored research program in primary care research with an appointment as a National Health Services Award (NRSA) Fellow at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The mission of the fellowship is to assemble a diverse cohort of emerging scholars to educate them in the conduct of primary care research. We intend TraP PCR to prepare the next generation of leaders in academic primary care.

The program offers:

  1. Training in critical thinking, research methods, data analysis, research communication and dissemination

  2. Transdisciplinary curriculum in leadership, team building, and research

  3. Mentored career development

    • Mentored research projects related to the program’s priority areas

    • Individualized program of graduate coursework; potential to earn a Master's degree

    • Methods-focused book and journal club with diverse and multidisciplinary program faculty

    • Peer and faculty work-in-progress seminars

  4. Practical instruction in grant writing, career development, obtaining research funding

  5. Contributing to and learning from a dynamic and interdisciplinary cohort of leaders in primary care research

  • Diverse Paths: 

    • Multidisciplinary Primary Care Clinicians
    • Social Scientists
    • Non-Physician Clinicians
    • Other Doctoral Level Scholars
    • Interested in the science of primary care
    • Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
    • Implementation Science
    • Policy Analysis including Program Evaluation
    • Clinical Research
    • Health Services Research
    • Patient and Community Engaged Research
    • Measurement and Improvement Science
    • Marginalized Populations
    • Our faculty and mentors conduct research across a broad and diverse spectrum of research. 
    • Quality, Costs, and Outcomes
    • Patient-Clinician Communication
    • Generalist-Specialist Interactions
    • Workforce
    • Access and Availability of Care
    • Social Determinants of Health
    • Health Equity
    • Maternal and Child Health
    • Implementation and Improvement Sciences
    • Population Health
    • COVID 19
    • State Health Policy

  • This program is directed by Dr. Larry Kleinman, who has previously developed and led HRSA Primary Care Research Fellowships at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Case Western Reserve University. This fellowship is designed to bring together clinical and non-clinical fellows across disciplines. Our faculty draws from anthropology, economics, sociology, epidemiology, and public health as well as General Internal Medicine, Family Practice, and General Academic Pediatrics.  

    Our group has many strengths including exemplary community engagement, health services research, population health, health equity, positive health, quality improvement, COVID-19, pharmacoepidemiology, cancer prevention, and survey research. 

    • Lawrence Kleinman, MD, MPH, TraP PCR Fellowship Director; Division Chief, Population Health, Quality, & Implementation Sciences, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health Institute of NJ
    • Michael Steinberg, MD, MPH, Division Chief, General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine; Medical Director, Center for Tobacco Studies
    • Shawna Hudson, Ph.D., Research Division Chief, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; co-lead, NJ Alliance for Clinical & Translational Science (NJ ACTS) Community Engagement Core
    • Joel C. Cantor, ScD, Director, Center for State Health Policy (Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, & Aging Research); Edward Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy
    • Leslie Kantor, PhD, MPH, Professor & Chair, Department of Global-Urban Public Health, Rutgers School of Public Health
    • Nancy Reichman, PhD, Professor, Department of Pediatrics; co-lead, NJ ACTS Team Science Core

  • Name

    Key Areas of Expertise

    Key Affiliation

    Omar Al-Dewachi, MD, PhD, MPH 

    Medical Anthropology 

    Department of Anthropology  

    M. Douglas Baker, MD 

    Pediatric Emergency Medicine 

    Pediatrics Office of the Chair

    Joel C. Cantor, ScD

    Health Policy/Medicaid

    Center for State Health Policy 

    Benjamin Crabtree, PhD 

    Medical Anthropology/ Quality/ Complexity Science, Qualitative Methods, Office Practice

    Family Medicine and Community Health

    Stephen Crystal, PhD, MA 

    Social Work, Health Services research, Medicaid, Substance use, HIV 

    Center for Health Services Research 

    Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello 

    Microbiology, Ecology, Microbiome, Breast Feeding, Anthropology and acculturation 

    Director NJ Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health (at Rutgers)

    Paul Duberstein, PhD 

    Community Psychology, Implementation Sciences, Community Health, Educating URM populations

    Rutgers School of Public Health: Chair  Health, Behavior, and Society 

    Jeanne Ferrante, MD, MPH 

    Family Medicine/ Practice-based research

    Family Medicine and Community Health

    Jacqueline Fleming, MD

    Primary Care Pediatrics, Community Health, Underserved Populations 

    PopQuIS in Pediatrics 

    Daniel Horton, MD, MSCE 

    Pediatric Rheumatology, Medication safety, Pharmacoepidemiology, COVID-19 

    Pediatrics, Center for PharmacoEpidemiology and Therapeutics Sciences (PETS)

    Shawna Hudson, PhD 

    Sociology, Equity, Implementation Sciences, Community-engaged Research 

    Family Medicine and Community Health, NJ ACTS Community Core 

    Manuel Jimenez, MD, MS 

    Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics, LatinX health, Literacy, Social determinants, Behavioral health 

    PopQuIS in Pediatrics, CHINJ

    Leslie Kantor, PhD, MPH  

    Social Work, Community-engaged research, Education, Health equity, Maternal Child Health, Maternal Morbidity 

    Rutgers School of Public Health Chair of Global-Urban Public Health

    Larry Kleinman, MD, MPH 

    Primary Care Pediatrics, Child Health and Policy, Health and Mental health services research, Equity, Education and mentorship, Social determinants, Quality and Safety 

    PopQuIS in Pediatrics, CHINJ,  

    Global-Urban Public Health 

    Emmanuel Lerner, MD 

    Primary Care Pediatrics, Medical home

    PopQuIS in Pediatrics

    Thomas Mackie, PhD, MPH 

    Sociology, Mental Health services research, Identifying autism spectrum in practice 

    Health, Behavior, and Society 

    Lisa Mikesell, PhD 

    Communications, Qualitative data collection and analysis, conversation analysis 

    Rutgers School of Communication and Information 

    Lakshmi Moorthy, MD, (MBBS) MS 

    Pediatric Rheumatology, South Asian Health, Survey research, Quality of Life, Social Determinants 

    Pediatrics, South Asian Total Health Initiative

    Shilpa Pai, MD 

    Primary care pediatrics, Underserved populations, Advocacy, social determinants 

    PopQuIS in Pediatrics 

    Payal D. Parikh, MD 

    General Internal Medicine, Quality Safety 

    Internal Medicine

    Anna Petrova, MD MPH  

    Biostatistics and clinical research design, methods, and analysis 

    PopQuIS in Pediatrics 

    Usha Ramachandran 

    Primary care pediatrics, Underserved populations, Advocacy, literacy development, South Asian Health 

    PopQuIS in Pediatrics, South Asian Total Health Initiative 

    Nancy Reichman, PhD

    Economics, Survey research, vulnerable families 

    PopQuIS in Pediatrics 

    Slawa Rokicki, PhD 

    Health Policy, Maternal mental health 

    SPH: Health Behavior and Society 

    Kristine Schmitz, MD 

    Primary care pediatrics, vulnerable families, parental and child mental health, child welfare, social determinants, implementation science 

    PopQuIS in Pediatrics, Joint Program in Population Health and Prevention Science (J3PS)/Child Health Institute 

    Michael Steinberg, MD, MPH 

    General Internal Medicine, Tobacco Control 

    Internal Medicine 

    Brian Strom, MD, MPH 

    Primary care internal medicine, pharmacoepidemiology, health services research 

    Chancellor’s Office, Internal Medicine 

    Alfred Tallia, MD, MPH

    Family Medicine, Value based care, Accountable care, Vulnerable populations, medical education  

    Family Medicine and Community Health 

    Patricia Whitley-Williams, MD 

    Pediatric Infectious Disease, Implicit Bias, Recruitment, Diversity & Inclusion 

    Pediatrics and RWJMS Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion 

Benefits and Salary

Our residency and fellowship programs offer a uniform package of benefits consistent with those provided at all graduate medical educational programs operated by the medical school. Full details regarding benefits and salary are continuously updated by the Office of Graduate Medical Education.

Office of Graduate Medical Education
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Contact Us

Sandra Moroso-Fela
POPQuiS Program Manager
Email: sandee.moroso@rutgers.edu