The Emory University School of Medicine T32 Hematology Training Program addresses the crucial need for programs to train physician scientists and clinical investigators in pediatric nonmalignant hematology. Research in hematology—particularly in pediatrics—has explained many of the genetic, cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying disease processes as well as fundamental cellular functions, such as cell differentiation and gene regulation. Embedded in the largest clinical pediatric hematology program in the country at the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, our T32 Hematology Training Program provides huge patient volumes for clinical and translational research.
The T32 Hematology Training Program offers rigorous training in basic and translational research to postdoctoral MD, MD/PhD and PhD fellows under the mentorship of 28 faculty members supported by more than $25 million in extramural funding (more than $17 million from federal sources). Integrated into the highly successful Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) fellowship programs, the T32 Hematology Training Program admits two trainees for two years of support, training five to seven MD fellows and three to five PhD postdoctoral fellows over five years.
What are the qualifications?
MD and PhD fellows within Children's and Emory, as well as external MD and PhD candidates, are chosen on the basis of their prior training and research accomplishments, academic potential, and commitment to research in nonmalignant hematology.
What are the duties and responsibilities
Each trainee will have a primary research mentor and a clinical co-mentor to foster basic, translational, or clinical research relevant to pediatric hematology. Pairing of senior mentors with junior mentors from a pool of 11 young faculty members will expand the supply of future mentors.
In addition to rigorous research training, trainees will participate in an ethical research course, departmental career development seminars, grant writing and academic skills training, research conferences, journal clubs, and fellowship program research retreats. Individual training plans will be developed for each trainee, and progress will be monitored by a multidisciplinary scholarship oversight committee (SOC). Formal training in clinical research methodologies is also available for PhD trainees.
Trainees will present their work at national meetings and develop applications for career development awards (K awards).
Executive committee:
- Clinton Joiner, MD, PhD, Program Director
- Shannon Meeks, MD, Associate Director
- Douglas Graham, MD, PhD
- Wilbur Lam, MD, PhD
- Kathryn Sutton, MD
- Dan Wechsler, MD
- Ricardo Forts
- Gary Lindsay, Secretary
Research mentors:
- David Archer, PhD
- Edward Botchwey, PhD
- Kevin Bunting, PhD
- Chris Doering, PhD
- Mandy Ford, PhD
- Douglas Graham, MD, PhD
- Clinton Joiner, MD, PhD
- Wilbur Lam, MD, PhD
- Renhao Li, PhD
- Pete Lollar, MD
- Shannon Meeks, MD
- Manu Platt, PhD
- C.K. Qu, MD, PhD
- John Roback, MD, PhD
- Krishnendu Roy, PhD
- Trent Spencer, PhD
- Jonathan Stiles, PhD
- Edmund Waller, MD, PhD
Clinical co-mentors:
Applicants should submit a CV and a research proposal to Clinton Joiner, MD, PhD, Program Director, Shannon Meeks, MD, Associate Director, and Gary Lindsay, Program Coordinator. The research proposal should contain specific aims (no more than one page), a research plan (no more than three pages) and a training plan (one page), including proposed members of the applicant’s SOC. The SOC should consist of a member of the T32 executive committee as the chairperson as well as a research mentor, a clinical co-mentor and other scientific advisors as needed (see above for full list of mentor options).