Infectious Disease Education & Science Training Grant

The goal of the Infectious Disease Education & Science (NuIDeas) Training Grant is to leverage the clinical and basic research expertise and resources available at Northwestern University to train MD and MD/PhD fellows in infectious disease translational research. This training program will build on the Adult & Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship Programs at Feinberg School of Medicine and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, which attract top-notch physician-scientists. The clinical expertise of the Infectious Disease Divisions together with the long-standing basic science strengths in microbiology and immunology at Northwestern University and Lurie Children’s have created a rich environment for translational research. Each trainee will work with both a primary research mentor and a clinical co-mentor, which will foster interaction between research and clinical faculty and enhance the translational aspects of the fellow’s research experience. A training program consisting of a Masters of Science in Clinical Investigation degree, seminars, career development programs and education in the ethical conduct of research has been developed to promote excellence in research. The program is jointly funded by NIH and the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics. It supports two highly qualified MD or MD/PhD fellows per year for a two-year intensive research experience. Together, these activities will enable trainees to obtain funding and develop into independent investigators.

Director

Alan Hauser, MD, PhD
Professor of Microbiology-Immunology and Medicine-Infectious Diseases

Administrative Support

For questions, contact Marla Block and Anabel Mendez.

About the Program

Deadlines

Applications for the training program are accepted in February. Applications are reviewed by the Executive Committee, and appointed fellows begin their training period on July 1.

Eligibility

The program supports two highly qualified MD or MD/PhD fellows per year for a two-year intensive research experience. NuIDeas trainees will be selected from the Adult ID Fellowship Program at Northwestern University and the Pediatric ID Fellowship Program at Lurie Children’s, which successfully recruit highly trained medicine residents from across the country. Fellows will have completed an MD or MD/PhD degree program and internal medicine or pediatric residencies. It is expected that all ID Fellows will have passed the United States Medical Licensing Exam steps 1, 2 and 3.

How to Apply

The application will consist of a two-to-three-page research proposal stressing the translational aspects of the project, a brief description of the applicants career aspirations, a listing of the trainee’s Research Committee, the trainee’s CV (including past academic performance) and a letter of support from the research mentor. The Executive Committee will also have access to performance evaluations from the clinical year of training. The application deadline is Feb. 15 (unless specifically extended by the Executive Committee). Applications should be submitted to the director of the training program.

Expectations

Each NuIDeas trainee will be expected to meet the following milestones:

Submit an abstract to a national meeting each year
Submit at least one first-author research manuscript
Be listed as co-author on at least one additional submitted manuscript (e.g., research, review article, book chapter)
Participate in all NuIDeas training activities
Maintain clinical skills and pass the appropriate board examinations

Trainees are also urged to submit a grant application during their time in the program.

Current Trainees

Hannah Nam
Undergrad: University of Utah, Salt Lake City
MD: Penn State College of Medicine
Residency: University of Illinois, Chicago
Research Project: Virulence Determinants of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Immunocompromised Hospitalized Adults

Scott Roberts
Undergrad: University of Maryland, College Park
MD: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York
Residency: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Research Project: The Lung Microbiome During Primary Graft Dysfunction Following Lung Transplantation

Rebecca Kumar
Undergrad: Cornell University, Ithaca
MD: Georgetown University, Washington D.C.
Residency: Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington D.C.
Research Project: Epidemiologic evaluation of antimicrobial susceptibility profiles for Enterobacteriaceae causing urinary tract infections in the renal transplant population in a large urban Midwestern hospital

Alexander Newman
Undergrad: University of Wisconsin, Madison
MD: Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Residency: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia
Research Project: The Impact of Inulin Administration on the Microbiome for Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation

Executive Committee and Diversity Committee

Meet the members of the Executive Committee and Diversity Committee.