Research Training
The Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship at Mayo Clinic can prepare you for an independent and productive career as a clinician-scientist. To help you achieve your goals, our faculty members are committed to supporting your pursuits in any area of academic interest to you.
Mayo Clinic offers a comprehensive range of scholarly opportunities for its fellows, including studies in basic or translational science, clinical medicine, and medical education. The possibilities are limitless. Early in your fellowship, our faculty work with you to identify an appropriate mentor for your experience — one whose interests and mentoring record give you the best chance for success. See a list of potential mentors below.
Each fellow enrolls in the required research courses offered by the graduate school, thereby fulfilling the American Board of Pediatrics subspecialty requirement for research curriculum. Coursework begins with an introduction to clinical research and statistics and includes a course in aspects of research in pediatric and adolescent medicine. These courses aid in the development of a scholarly approach to patient care.
Participation in professional activities affords the fellow many opportunities to present research done at Mayo Clinic. These experiences provide the fellow with a broader knowledge base and an opportunity to enhance his or her reputation. Up to 10 presentation weekdays are supported in addition to travel expenses per Mayo Clinic guidelines.
In addition, an attendance trip is available to the fellow for a recognized society meeting, elective course, or workshop with Category 1 CME credit. Up to five consecutive days may be approved for this experience.
Your scholarly activities and the above training qualify you to sit for the neonatal-perinatal medicine subspecialty certification examination. The fellowship's Scholarship Oversight Committee monitors your scholarly progress and a division-level adviser is provided.
Research curriculum:
- Fundamentals of Clinical and Translational Science (FunCaTS) Program. The FunCaTS Program includes 14 online modules focusing on improving patient safety offered through the Mayo Clinic Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCaTS). These take approximately 10 hours to complete.
- CTSC 5240: Practical Aspects of Research with Pediatric and Adolescent Subjects. This course is directed by Robert Jacobson, M.D., and is generally held January through June (required attendance).
There are additional resources available through Mayo Clinic to help you build a foundation of research knowledge. Graduate-level courses may be selected to tailor your research training to your interests and career path.
Potential mentors
Richard Weinshilboum, M.D.
Dr. Weinshilboum studies pharmacogenomics, and his research goal includes developing safer and more effective drug therapy to treat diseases. His research has been continuously funded for decades by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He is involved with the Center for Individualized Medicine.
Research training in clinical pharmacology may be completed under an NIH-funded T32 training grant. Learn more about the Clinical Pharmacology training grant and the opportunities it presents.
Moses Rodriguez, M.D.
Dr. Rodriguez's research is focused on determining the mechanisms of demyelination and remyelination in diseases such as human multiple sclerosis and perinatal white matter disease.
Charles Howe, Ph.D.
Dr. Howe's research focuses on the role of the immune system in the injury of axons and neurons within the central nervous system (CNS) and understanding the interaction of both innate and adaptive immune effectors with infected or stressed neurons in the context of inflammatory processes.
His work has relevance to the prevention and/or amelioration of loss of neurological function associated with inflammation-dependent and age-related changes in the immune response to CNS insults that otherwise may lead to irreversible neuronal attack, injury, and death.
Piero Rinaldo, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Rinaldo's research includes expanded newborn screening. He is involved with the Children's Research Center.
Michael Ackerman, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Ackerman's research areas include sudden infant death syndrome and inherited cardiac channel anomalies. He is involved with the Cardiovascular Research Center.
Young Juhn, M.D.
Dr. Juhn conducts National Institutes of Health-funded research investigating the epidemiology of wheezing and asthma. He has mentored previous fellows.
Dennis Wigle, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Wigle's research interests include molecular determinants of lung organogenesis as well as targeted lung regeneration from an understanding of cell specification in the developing lung. He is involved with the Center for Regenerative Medicine.
Dr. Wigle has agreed to mentor more than one of our fellows at a time if there is interest. He has mentored previous fellows.
William Carey, M.D.
Dr. Carey collaborates with faculty in the Center for Regenerative Medicine to develop novel treatments for aerodigestive and neurological disorders. He also partners with faculty in the Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery to study clinical outcomes using advanced data analytics.
Christopher Colby, M.D.
Dr. Colby is a member of the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) Steering Committee and is a principal investigator of the VentFirst trial, a multicenter study of delayed cord clamping. He also studies the impact of telemedicine on the process and outcomes of neonatal resuscitation.
Grazia Isaya, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Isaya's research includes the mechanisms that enable the cell to take advantage of the high-energetic yield of oxidative phosphorylation in spite of the concomitant production of reactive oxygen species. She is involved with the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging.
Dietrich Matern, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Matern's research focuses on the improvement and expansion of newborn screening and the development of new diagnostic tests for inborn errors of metabolism. In addition, he and his lab participate in several research projects aimed at developing new treatment strategies for fatty acid oxidation disorders and characterizing the biochemical phenotype of animal models of such conditions.
Elaine Wirrell, M.D.
Dr. Wirrell's main focus is pediatric epilepsy, focusing on early diagnosis, treatment, causes, and outcomes.
William Dunn, M.D.
Dr. Dunn is former director of the Mayo Clinic Multidisciplinary Simulation Center, former program director of the adult Critical Care Medicine Fellowship at Mayo Clinic, and a graduate of the Harvard Macy Institute. His research interests are in educational outcomes of using simulation-based education.
Yves Ouellette, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Ouellette's research includes determining the role of systemic inflammation associated with sepsis in mediating decreased gap junctional signaling within the microvascular wall.
Slavica Katusic, M.D.
Dr. Katusic's research focuses on the long-term outcomes of a variety of disease processes utilizing the Rochester Epidemiology Project. Autism spectrum disorder is also a focus of her research.
Research centers and programs
Find more information about Mayo Clinic research centers and programs in which our research mentors are involved.