Research

Overview:

There will be a dedicated 12 month block rotation for research, spanning the latter 6 months of the 1st year and the first 6 months of the 2nd year. Fellows will be required to work towards completion of a project and a poster presentation or publication of the project.

The 1st year fellow will be responsible for meeting with the research director to plan and design a research project. They will be responsible for having in place a project for which data collection is already in progress.

The 2nd year fellow will be expected to work actively and diligently in pursuing the research project started in the 1st year. They are expected to have started exploring professional journals and society poster sessions in preparation for submitting their completed project. They are expected to be responsible for having a timeline for getting the project to the manuscript stage by the end of the 2nd year, although there will be time for final details during the 3rd year. They will attend Scholarly Oversight Committee meetings, and utilize the feedback during the meetings to improve upon and move their project forward.

The 3rd year fellow will be expected to finalize the research project started in the 1st year, if it has not been completed by the end of the 2nd year. They will be responsible for writing the manuscript under the guidance of the research director, and responsible for submitting the work to journals, or presenting the work at a professional society meeting. They will attend Scholarly Oversight Committee meetings not only for their own research project, but also the projects of the junior fellows, with the goal of sharing their accumulated research experience and expertise with the junior fellows.

Didactic component:

Didactic lectures are scheduled through the Institute for the Study of Child Development, and he Neonatology division.

Selection of area of research:

This is done at the beginning of the 1st year, in conjunction with the research mentor.

Research Mentor:

Dr. Michael Lewis, University Distinguished Professor, Director of the Institute for the Study of Child Development, serves as the research mentor.

Scholarship Oversight Committee (SOC):

The dept of Pediatrics has an SOC. Dr. Barry Weinberger from the division of Neonatology is the head of the SOC, and the other fellowship program directors often participate. For each specific fellow, the SOC is composed of 3-4 faculty with some research expertise in the fellow’s specialty, and at least one faculty outside of the specialty. The program director of the fellowship program recommends faculty to form an SOC committee for each fellow. The program director may serve as a mentor and participate in the SOC activities, but may not be a standing (i.e. voting) member of the SOC. The SOC meets 2-4 times per year, and makes sure that the Fellow stays on target with their research.

Project completion:

Ideally, should be done by the end of the research year, although there is time in the 3rd year, prior to completion of training, to finalize the research product.