Earlier this year, Dr. Constantine Stratakis, NICHD Scientific Director of the Division of Intramural Research, called our attention to an original investigation published in JAMA Pediatrics, led by NICHD Director Dr. Diana Bianchi. The topic: the importance of career development awards for physician scholars. As we continue our focus on physician-scientists at the NICHD, Dr. Yvette Pittman, Director of the NICHD Office of Education, offers a spotlight on this important issue for our clinical fellows.
In our third follow-up with former NICHD postbacs who chose a clinical career field, we hear from Amber Simmons, a medical student at Weill Cornell Medicine. She describes the shift from her fascination with outer space to a desire to understand the human body, and the mindset that both practices require. We hope our current postbacs find a connection with these stories and realize the breadth of opportunities available in the clinical research space (if you want to take that last word literally, check out Dr. Anthony Hickey’s former fellow follow-up in March 2017, and consider studying biology IN space!).
Here on Earth, we celebrate the news that former NICHD fellow Dr. Tasuku Honjo and colleagues share this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Please see the November announcements for more information about Dr. Honjo’s current work and his former research at the NICHD. Other important announcements include the upcoming mandatory training for all postdocs who began after January 2018, and a call for fellow accomplishments and awards received during 2018 for our “Year in Review” next month.
To all of our fellows, both in the clinical and basic sciences, have a wonderful November, and we’ll catch up again next month before we transition into the new year.
Your Editor in Chief,
Shana R. Spindler, PhD
Questions, comments, or ideas? Please contact our editor at Shana.Spindler@gmail.com.
