Research Opportunities

Research Training

For fellows in the research track, a third year of full-time bench or clinically oriented research is expected, funded by our NIH Harvard-wide Research Training Grant. During this year, there are no clinical requirements; however, some fellows elect to serve for a short time as junior attending physicians on the nephrology consult service under the supervision of a senior nephrologist. Fellows desiring an intensive research experience may choose to remain for additional years of training. There is also an opportunity to apply for a third year of clinical and research training as the medical transplant fellow in our program certified by the American Society of Transplantation.

Basic Science & Translational Research Fellowship Track

We owe much of what we understand about the etiology and treatment of renal diseases to the efforts of basic scientists bringing their findings from cell culture, micropuncture and animal models into the clinical realm. Your experience in this track will be defined by an immersion into this world, as an understanding of basic science techniques is required for translational research. This will be guided by one of our successful researchers as your mentor, bringing you into their labs and encouraging you to develop your own research focus. Their guidance will help you attain both early success (i.e. publication) while laying the groundwork for a rich career in research by helping you write grants and securing funding to support your own independent lab.

The future of kidney disease research lies in the exploration of the interface between our genetics and kidney diseases. The discovery of ApoL1 has changed the landscape of kidney disease, helping to explain the higher prevalence of CKD among those of African ancestry. Drs. Martin Pollak and David Friedman, the investigators who identified the ApoL1 high risk genotype and continue to study its biology, will help guide your work in the genetics of kidney diseases. As a member of the genetics track, your research will lead you to a greater understanding of how one might apply methods in gene sequencing and other specialized techniques in the laboratory setting. Fascinating work in genomics, proteomics and metabolomics is occurring throughout BIDMC and the Boston scientific community, and we can help facilitate collaborative projects with other mentors as well.

Mentors: Seth Alper, Martin Pollak, David Friedman

Clinical Research Fellowship Track

Clinical research consists of many different types of research involving human subjects, from data mining via large datasets to clinical trials. We are fortunate to be able to offer our fellows the breadth of this experience, though we recommend you focus on one type of clinical research. For those interested in further training in epidemiologic methods and study design, the Program in Clinical Effectiveness course is offered on a yearly basis through the Harvard School of Public Health and may be supported by the division. Our faculty offers a wide variety of options in terms of a focus with access to numerous large datasets to help answer important clinical questions retrospectively as well as access to a burgeoning prospective clinical study portfolio in glomerulonephritis and renal replacement therapies. You will be paired with a mentor who will integrate you into his or her team and help focus your research to prepare you for a future career in clinical research.

Mentors:  Brad Denker, John Danziger, Sylvia Rosas, Mark Williams

Research Experiences: FAQs

Does the program have a research requirement for fellows in a two-year clinical track? What are the expectations of the fellow? Who supervises this experience? How are mentors determined? Is there protected time for research? If so, during which years, how much time, how is this time allocated and structured?

Fellows in a two-year clinical track are expected to take part in scholarly activity, to be decided upon mutually by the fellow and Dr. Lecker, the program director. Mentors are chosen individually and based upon the interests of the fellow. There is generally at least six months in the second year for research work.

Does the program offer extended research track positions beyond 2 years of fellowship? Are fellows guaranteed a third and other additional years for research if productive during the first research year? What requirements are there for receiving research support for a third or other additional years of research? How are research fellows funded? Is there a training grant available for eligible fellows?

Yes. Funded through an NIH Training Grant for eligible fellows. For those not eligible because of visa issues, all efforts are made to secure funding through foundation and institutional sources. We like to say that we have never been unable to support a fellow who wanted to continue to pursue investigative research!

How is it determined whom the fellows work with during their research years? How many basic and clinical research scientists are in the Division? Are fellows able to do research with scientists who are not members of the Division?

Selection of a research lab / project is a deeply personal decision. We are all about providing you with information, guidance and choices, but the decision is yours. Our division has a variety of basic/translational and clinical researchers that are ready and willing to serve as mentors. We have embraced the idea of fellows working for scientists that are not members of our Division, either within the BIDMC system or elsewhere in the scientific community of Boston.

Is there a research mentoring committee? What is their role?

We pair each fellow with a career mentor (separate from their clinic preceptor or research PI), whether they are on a clinical or a research track. That individual can provide career advice, but during research years can also serve to ensure grants are applied for, manuscripts written, etc., and that the laboratory experience for the fellow is optimized.

Are there required courses in research design, methods, statistics and ethics? Are there tuition costs to fellows for these courses?

There is boundless availability of courses in the Boston biomedical sphere. Many are freely available (i.e. Harvard Catalyst). Courses at the Harvard School of Public Health can be taken and tuition can be provided by our Training Grant in some cases.