Scholarly Activities
Scholarship responsibilities for the fellow include identifying an area of interest and senior faculty member to oversee a project. Each fellow is expected to complete a scholarly project and prepare a report of that activity or a manuscript for publication within the three-year training period.
For fellows primarily interested in clinical research training, we encourage pursuit of an advanced degree. A program leading to a Master of Public Health may be integrated into the training program. Fellow interested in Medical Director roles or QI can receive intensive training with the Quality Improvement Track. For fellows interested in laboratory and translational research training, UNC has many wonderful opportunities for collaboration. First and foremost, our Division Chief, Misty Good, is a nationally known researcher funded with multiple NIH RO-1 grants. Individuals interested in these training options should declare this interest during the application process.
UNC NPM has many resources available to fellows to support research activities. In addition to the research of individual faculty, UNC NPM has many fruitful collaborations with research networks, and quality improvement collaboratives.
NICHD NEONATAL RESEARCH NETWORK
UNC is a partner with Duke as a member of the NICHD Neonatal Research Network. This network conducts multi-center clinical trials and observational studies in neonatal medicine in order to reduce infant morbidity and mortality and promote healthy outcomes. Dr. Matt Laughon is the UNC Site PI.
This group of researchers has followed over one thousand children born at least 3 months early between 2002 and 2004 at 14 different hospitals in 5 states. Fellows can apply to access this rich dataset for studies. Dr. Mike O’Shea is the PI leading this cohort study.
NICHD Pediatric Trials Network
The PTN is a network of clinical research sites who study the formulation, dosing, efficacy and safety of drugs and medical devices used in pediatric patients. UNC is an active site for the conduct of PTN studies. Dr. Matt Laughon is on the executive board of the PTN.
NICHD Global Network for Women and Children’s Health Research
The Global Network (GN) is a group of 7 research dyads that conduct clinical trials with the goal of evaluating low-cost, sustainable interventions to improve maternal and child health. Each research dyad consists of a US site partnered with a site in a low to low-middle income country. UNC NPM has enjoyed a long and fruitful partnership with the Kinshasa School of Public Health in the Democratic Republic of Congo and together, we have been a part of the GN for more than 10 years. The UNC GN Site is led by Drs. Carl Bose and Melissa Bauserman.
Perinatal Quality Collaborative of North Carolina (PQCNC)
The Perinatal Quality Collaborative of North Carolina works to make North Carolina the best place to give birth and be born. We work with 90 delivery hospitals across NC via their hospital perinatal quality improvement teams on quality improvement initiatives, implementing best care practices via easy to execute, low tech, minimal data intensive processes. Dr. Marty McCaffrey is the Director of PQCNC.
Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium (CHNC)
CHNC collects comprehensive data from over 45 NICUs to facilitate quality improvement and outcomes projects for this unique population of medically complex neonates and infants treated in level IV NICUs at children’s hospitals. This dataset include high acuity infants with surgical problems, congenital anomalies and serious acquired complications of preterm birth. Fellows can apply to use this rich data set for research and QI projects.