Weill Medical College of Cornell University

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The objective of our program is to train physician-scientists in biomedical research, with an emphasis on the pathogenesis of infectious diseases. In support of this goal the Division has a NIH T32 training grant for the support of five physician-scientists' research training annually.

Fellows are recruited with the expectation that they will complete 3 years of training. Research training occupies the majority of the second and subsequent years of fellowship.

Fellows have a month rotation in the first year of the program during which they define their prospective research project. In the second year fellows can join a laboratory for basic science work or pursue a clinical research project mentored by an expert in their field of interest. Fellows may select from a broad range of research opportunities in basic, patient-based, or epidemiologic research, both in the Division of Infectious Diseases Current Grants with our diverse faculty [Faculty Research Profiles] or with other departments within the Weill Cornell Medical college such as Microbiology and Immunology or Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. In addition, fellows may conduct their research in affiliated institutions, including Rockefeller University and Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Aaron Diamond Foundation for AIDS Research.

Fellows in our program also have the opportunity to participate in a multitude of research projects abroad [International Programs]. For example, Jean Pape, MD is a full time faculty member who works in Haiti where he has studied the clinical manifestations and epidemiology of HIV disease. He also has a particular interest in intestinal coccidia (Cryptosporidium, Isospora, Cyclospora). In Brazil, under Dr. Johnson's supervision, we have ongoing projects studying multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis, the immunotherapy of intra-cellular pathogens, and antibiotic resistant pneumococcal infections.

The research training and grant support of our most recent fellows is reflective of the myriad of opportunities the program offers as well as the success of our fellows in sucessfully establishing their careers [Fellows Research]. Trainees have invariably received independent research awards following their fellowship, primarily from the NIH. Subject areas for these awards have included KSHV-HHV8, HIV pathogenesis, HIV-TB co-infection, HIV vaccine development, leishmania pathogenesis and M. tuberculosis-NO interaction. Two former trainees are conducting research and training on HIV vaccines and bioterrorism.

Several fellows have also applied for our Masters of Science Clinical Research Program (Funded by the National Institutes of Health through a K30 Curriculum Award), which provides training leading to either a certificate of Clinical Investigation or a Master's in Clinical Investigation or obtained a Masters of Public Health from Columbia University's School of Public Health through participation in the Weill Cornell Department of Public Health's General Preventive Medicine Residency [Masters Degree Programs].

Regardless of the site of their research project, the program strives to integrate them into the rich milieu of the Division, which also provides research opportunities to undergraduate and medical students as well as PhDs and post-doctoral fellows both in the US and from abroad. Beginning in their first year fellows present the evolution of their ideas and projects to the research staff as well as their colleagues in periodic research-in-progress seminars. This permits the fellows to obtain feedback and guidance regarding the direction of their research as well as fosters camaraderie. Fellows have a fully equipped office in the Division with individual computer terminals. Additional facilities of the Division of International Medicine and Infectious Diseases include 10,600 sq. ft. of research and administrative space. There are 10 research laboratories (7,500 sq. ft.) equipped for microbiological and immunologic studies, offices, and a computer center (1,500 sq. ft.). Current funding for sponsored research and training in the Division of International Medicine and Infectious Diseases exceeds $10 million.