A Path to an Academic Career
Applicants to Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship who are looking for a path to an academic career will find encouragement in the journey of Robert B. Hinton, MD.
Dr. Hinton completed fellowship training at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Past experience and early rotations in the laboratory confirmed his interest in molecular cardiovascular biology. As a result, Dr Hinton completed a fourth year of fellowship training dedicated to cardiovascular genetics and developmental biology. In 2006 he accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Pediatrics.
In his position, Dr. Hinton spends eighty percent of his time pursuing patient oriented research. The remaining twenty percent is reserved for clinical work and teaching. Dr. Hinton is currently investigating the causes of hypoplastic left heart syndrome and the pathogenesis of aortic valve disease under the direction of D. Woodrow Benson, PhD, MD, Director of Cardiovascular Genetics.
"The cardiology fellowship program offers well-rounded training in all the cardiac subspecialties, including molecular cardiology. Significant training advantages include the caliber of the faculty and their commitment to teaching, the presence and accessibility of senior scientists and the opportunity for multidisciplinary research collaborations, and the strong institutional support for pursuing paths in academic pediatrics," said Dr. Hinton.
A central component of the fellowship program is the time allotted for research training. Every fellow has 16 months during the 36 month program dedicated to research training. "Regardless of your ultimate professional goals, research training aims to make all cardiology fellows literate in molecular cardiology and research methodology, not only to enrich your understanding of pediatric cardiology but to prepare you for the future," Dr. Hinton said. "Research training is a critical component to producing a highly skilled clinician."
"The next big step forward in taking care of children with pediatric heart disease is identifying the causes and translating that information into clinically relevant knowledge, that is applying what is learned in the laboratory to how we practice everyday. The genetic and molecular studies that are being done here are contributing substantially to that advance," said Dr. Hinton.
