Research & Scholarly Activity | Overview
The scientific environment at Boston Children’s Hospital is highly conducive to fostering successful physician-scientists. As a 395-bed pediatric academic medical center that provides tertiary care to the children of Boston and across the globe, the research mission of Children's encompasses basic research, clinical research, community research programs and the postdoctoral training of new scientists, including 9 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 on-staff members of the Institute of Medicine and 9 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Children's current initiatives are supported by a record US $225 million in annual funding, which includes more federal funding than is awarded to any other pediatric facility.
The Division of Critical Care Medicine is an essential and vibrant component of this research environment. The Division faculty members have over 5000 square feet of bench support for basic science research. In addition, the critical care service encompasses 41 beds in the medical and surgical intensive care units (not including cardiac and neonatal intensive care units) that together admit over 2,500 patients per year, representing a high volume of patients with diverse diagnoses, an ideal clinical setting to conduct patient-oriented research. The Division of Critical Care employs twenty-three full-time faculty, including two endowed Chairs in Critical Care, three Professors and seven Associate Professors, and for the past academic year had over $5 million dollars in federal grant support, including three senior faculty with RO1 support, as well as three with over 5 million dollars in foundation support. The division holds weekly conferences to discuss clinical cases, as well as monthly research conferences to both review pending clinical protocols and discuss the faculty research projects. Formal scientific review of research protocols are conducted by the Division’s senior faculty.
Our fellowship is an academically oriented fellowship and contributions to the advancement of the field of Critical Care Medicine are expected of each fellow. Research time in the first year is designed for fellows to explore and determine an overarching research focus. In the second and third years, fellows receive ongoing clinical experience with extensive research exposure to develop their research interests. Current research activities within the fellowship range from the scholarly delineation of ethical issues to clinical trials to laboratory investigations of genetic susceptibility to disease, pulmonary hypertension, and Gram-negative lung infections. Fellows are expected to present their research locally and nationally.
Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School and affiliated hospitals have a uniquely diverse and abundant offering of research related resources, including courses and seminars in which we encourage fellows to participate. Below are relevant links and a list of courses that many of our past and current fellows have taken advantage of.
Advanced Training/ Fellowship Opportunities
The following programs are available to further enhance the training of fellows in education, clinical and translational clinical research. All training requests must be formally approved by the Division Chief to determine whether this formal education is appropriate for advancing the fellow’s academic training. (See table below.)
| Program | Time commitment | Funding | Application cycle | Link/comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HSPH Summer Program in Clinical Effectiveness- Affiliated with BWH. MGH & HMS | July to August, 7 weeks, full time | Requires sponsorship by the department or division | December if part of degree program, January if not-part of degree program | May be part of a degree program, click here for more information |
|
Harvard Macy Institute- Program for Educators in Health Professions |
Two sessions: 11 day winter, 6 day spring | Possibly funded by the division, or self-funded | September application for following January and May courses | |
| KL2 Medical Research Investigator Training (MeRIT) Program- Harvard Catalyst | 2 years |
The award covers 50-75% of salary; any master’s program within Harvard Catalyst is tuition free |
Spring for Summer | click here for more information |
|
Biomedical Informatics Master of Medical Sciences- Harvard Catalyst |
2 years | Federally funded | Winter | click here for more information |
| Master’s Program in Clinical and Translational Investigation - Harvard Catalyst | 2 years at 75% effort |
Tuition is covered and possibly some research funding |
Later winter for summer | click here for more information |
|
Harvard-wide Pediatric Health Services Research Fellowship Program |
2 years, at 80-90% effort |
Possibly fully federally funded or by the department or division |
Fall for Summer |
In addition to the numerous resources available above, the fellows are formally offered education and experience in administration, management, and teaching. Specifically, all of our third-year fellows hold an administrative role within the fellowship program. This was to prepare our trainees for a successful career in academic medicine.