Fellowship Leadership Committee
The leadership group assists the Fellowship Program DIrector in all issues pertaining to fellow training, education, research, progress and recruitment:
- Franklin O. Smith, III, MD, Division Director, Fellowship Program Director, Hematology Oncology
- Sonata Jodele, MD, Co-Director
- Parinda A. Mehta, MD, Co-Director
- Trent Hummel, MD, Instructor
- Eric Mullins, MD, Instructor
- Brenda Ingram, Fellowship Program Coordinator
- Susan Laupola, Senior Business Director
- Christine Phillips, Chief Fellow
- Melissa Rayburg, Chief Fellow
The leadership team is extremely committed to training young physicians and physician-scientists who will become the next generation of leaders in our field. The fellowship curriculum has been completely updated with new emphasis on research training. The program has filled a full complement of fellows since 2003 has increased the number of fellow trainees from 4 new fellows/year to 5 new fellows/year starting 2008.
During the first year of fellowship training the fellows rotate monthly in the clinical areas of hematology, oncology, outpatient clinic and blood and marrow transplantation. All fellows (1st-3rd year) attend clinic 1 day per week. Senior fellow (years two and three) training and education experience focuses on an intensive program in laboratory or clinical research.
The fellowship training program is rigorously structured with mentors, scholarship oversight committees, ongoing evaluations, lectures and conferences:
- Primary Mentor
- Scientific Oversight Committee
- Fellowship Core and Basic Science Lecture Series
- Workshops on SITE examination
- Tumor Boards
- Hematology Case Conferences
- Patient Management Conferences
- Fellows Grand Rounds
- Morphology Conferences
- Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology Floor Meeting
- Quarterly Reviews and Evaluations by Faculty and Fellows
Hematology Oncology and Experimental Hematology Faculty
The two divisions have approximately 60 faculty members. Several faculty have joint appointments in Hematology/ Oncology and Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology. The faculty includes nationally recognized program leaders that head various experimental and clinical programs. Faculty present their current laboratory or clinical research to the fellows to expose fellows to all research activities in the Divisions. Following this intensive review, the fellowship director and the director of HO meets individually with each 1st year fellow guide final laboratory assignments. The Program aims to have all laboratory assignments completed by late March.
A number of exceptional internal grant mechanisms exist to support trainees during their fellowship, especially during the transition of MD fellows to junior faculty positions with a focus on research. An active internal grant program funds translational research projects and there is an emphasis on development of early phase human trials in pediatric diseases based on discovery science performed at Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation. The institution has an outstanding track record in facilitating successful funding of individual training awards (K awards) for both MD and PhD and converting these to initial R01s.
Hematology-Oncology Fellows
The hematology oncology fellowship training program at Cincinnati Children's receives more than 60 applications and invites approximately half the applicants for an interview. The program has filled a full complement of fellows since 2003 and has increased the number of fellow trainees from 2 new fellows/year in 2003 to 4 new fellows/year by 2007. Last year, ACGME approved 5 new fellows/year starting 2008. This year, we matched 4 of 5 fellows in the top five ranked and all five within the first 10 ranked.
The fellows in the program have had several honors and awards, including approval of`Fast Track' and Pediatric Scientist Development Program Award for residents who have identified themselves with a research career in hematology-oncology; and the program has tailored their training to pursue research in hematology-oncology from residency onwards.
