Scholarly Activity during ID Fellowship

Year One

Three months of the first year are not assigned to clinical rotations. These non-scheduled weeks are for study, grand rounds preparation, and to explore with the Career Navigator and Program Leadership what are the fellow’s scholarly interests. Then the fellow meets with possible faculty mentors and develops a project. Under faculty members’ mentorship, we anticipate that by the end of year 1 a project has been selected/proposed.

Scholarly work can include ID-related quality improvement projects, Antimicrobial Stewardship projects or research initiatives, Health Services of Hospital Epi research, Clin Micro projects, clinical reviews/case series, bench research or clinical research. (See Section on Opportunities in Research/Scholarly Projects).

Year Two

Approximately four months of the year are dedicated to clinical rotations.  Thus, the second year of fellowship allows for significant time to execute a scholarly project(s). A mentor will guide the project, and a research committee or co-mentor selected from other faculty members will provide additional guidance as needed. Results of the fellows’ work will be presented during the ID Faculty and Fellows’ Conference toward the end of year 2. We encourage fellows to present their work at ID Week or through peer-reviewed publications.

Year Three/Four

A third (and often a fourth) year of advanced fellowship training is available for those who plan a career in academics and are engaged in a fruitful research project during clinical fellowship (see Fellowship Tracks). Building on productive scholarly work initiated during Year 2, the majority of Year 3 and 4 are dedicated to research/scholarly work and possibly course work. (See Advanced Fellowships/Training Section).

Opportunities in Research/Scholarly Projects

Several funding opportunities are listed below for trainees who perform a third (and often a fourth) year of fellowship. There are limitations for several of the grants listed below for fellows’ visas.  Tuition support for graduate work has been available for fellows during their research years.

  1. Infectious Diseases T32 Training Grant (up for renewal in 2025)
  2. Parasitism Training T32 Grant
  3. Immunology Training Grant 
  4. VA Quality Scholars Program
  5. VA Health Services Research Felowship

The Division of Infectious Diseases offers a broad range of research opportunities, with faculty members conducting laboratory research in innate immunity, host-pathogen interactions, parasitology, and virology. There are also opportunities for projects in medical microbiology, antimicrobial stewardship, hospital epidemiology and infection prevention, healthcare delivery and quality improvement, computational epidemiology and with the Vaccine Trials Unit.  See below for more detailed information about specific programs or faculty members.

  • The Inflammation Program: An interdisciplinary multi-faculty basic science research program that studies innate immunity and host-pathogen interactions with studies related to Staph aureus, Leishmania, and other pathogens. [see the Inflammation Program website]. For faculty names see specific research interests.
  • Dr. Stapleton studies the interactions between flaviviruses and immune cells, GB virus C and co-infection and SARS-CoV-2.
  • Dr. Winokur leads the University of Iowa Vaccine Trials and Education Unit and the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (ICTS).
  • Dr. Herwaldt is the PI for a CDC Infection Prevention Epi Center grant.  Care components include projects in antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention. She is a PI for a second CDC grant in infection prevention and patient safety.
  • Dr. Wilson studies the pathogenesis, biology, immunology, and genetics of Leishmania. She has collaborative projects in Brazil with two adjunct Infectious Diseases faculty members (Drs. Jeronimo and Carvalho) and scholars in India. She coordinates international clinical experiences for trainees.
  • Dr. Meier studies basic mechanisms of CMV pathogenesis and latency, and he conducts HIV clinical research.
  • Dr. Tan studies polyomovirus infections in immunocompromised hosts; she conducts clinical therapeutic trials and vaccine trials.
  • Dr. Polgreen is the cofounder of the interdisciplinary Computational Epidemiology Program at the University of Iowa, which applies bioinformatics to infectious diseases. He is the director of the Emerging Infections Network (EIN), an infectious disease physicians' network for North America, sponsored by the CDC and IDSA, to surveille and gather information on various emerging and re-emerging infections.
  • Dr. Ohl is a member of the VA Comprehensive Access & Delivery Research & Evaluation Team (CADRE). He has developed innovative models to provide HIV care to veterans and Hep C care in rural settings via telehealth. He studies healthcare quality and delivery. He directs a program for TelePrEP across the state and is trained in Addiction Medicine.
  • Dr. Ince, director of the Transplant Infectious Disease program, also is the physician champion of the UIHC Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (AMS) and is active in the IDSA AMS curriculum and clinical trials for solid organ transplant.
  • Dr. Goto is a member of CADRE at the VA. He studies ID-related healthcare outcomes and healthcare quality using VA databases. He is trained in bio-informatics.
  • Dr. Livorsi researches healthcare quality and delivery, with a focus on antimicrobial stewardship.  He is a member of the VA CADRE group and a Medical Co-Director of the VA AMS team.
  • Dr. Sekar specializes in Ortho ID at UIHC and performs MSK infection-related research at the VA and is involved in quality improvement projects.
  • Dr. Suzuki conducts research in healthcare delivery and antimicrobial stewardship.  He is the Hospital Epidemiologist at the VA.
  • Dr. Carvour has an interest in clinical Ortho ID, Ortho ID clinical research and research in health equity for patients with ID diagnoses. She also studies the disparate impact of COVID in the community and the COVID/diabetes syndemic.
  • Dr. Prasidthrathsint oversees Clinical Micro projects.
  • Dr. Barker is involved in medical education initiatives.
  • Dr. Non oversees transplant ID quality improvement projects.
  • Dr. Appenheimer and Dr. Kaewpoowat are involved in fellow educational initiatives.
  • Dr. Kaewpoowat is involved in a state telehealth program to provide ID care to patients with substance use disorders.

 

Advanced Fellowships/Training

Training towards several degrees or participation in advanced training programs can occur during a 3rd and 4th year of fellowship. These include:

 

  1. Master’s of Public Health degree that is offered through the College of Public Health [more information]
  2. Master’s of Medical Education Degree (MME). The purpose of this program is develop a community of academic medical faculty with formal training in education who will create and sustain a culture of educational excellence within the College of Medicine, the university, and the medical education community at-large. [more information]
  3. Masters of Clinical Investigation is a 2-year interdisciplinary program which prepares post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty from the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, and Pharmacy for careers in clinical research through a structured didactic curriculum in research methods and a mentored research experience. 
  4. Training as a clinical educator can also occur during the 2nd year of clinical fellowship through the Fellows as Clinician-Educators (FACE), a program developed within the Department of Medicine.
  5. Training in Healthcare Quality and Health Services Research can occur during respective 2-year Iowa City VA programs, after clinical fellowship (VA Quality Scholars or Health Services Research Fellowship). Clinical fellows are nominated per their request.