While training in the Allergy & Immunology (A&I) Fellowship Program, fellows can participate in the following additional opportunities:
NIH-Duke Master’s Program in Clinical Research
The NIH-Duke Master's Program in Clinical Research, established in 1998, is one of the nation's first training programs in clinical research. This program allows participants to attend formal courses in research design, research management, medical genomics, and statistical analysis at the Clinical Center by means of video-conferencing from Duke or on-site by adjunct faculty. Read more about the NIH-Duke Master’s Program in Clinical Research
Grant Writing Workshops
Grant writing seminars and workshops/courses are designed for research fellows, clinical fellows, postdoctoral intramural research training award (IRTA) fellows, and visiting fellows (VFs), as well as tenured and tenure-track investigators. Grant writing seminars consist of didactic sessions presented over a ½- to 2-day time period, and the intent of these seminars is to provide a broad overview on the grant writing process. The topics usually covered in such seminars include fundamentals of good grant writing, general preparation of the grant application (i.e., specific aims, research design, budgets, analysis of reviews, and strategies for rebuttal and re-application), roles and responsibilities of the extramural program officer and of the scientific review administrator, and an overview of various available funding mechanisms (e.g., career development awards [K and RO1] and the National Science Foundation Grant Awards).
The grant writing seminars at NIH are offered through the Office of Extramural Research (OER) and the Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE), as well as by individual Institutes.
Separately, a Clinical Trials Development Series with NIAID’s Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation helps fellows prepare for writing protocols and independent clinical research programs.
Research Retreat
In addition to individual research mentors, fellows in their second year and beyond participate in a program-wide research mentoring program retreat. At mid-year, fellows submit formal summaries of their research projects, and at year-end they present their progress before the assembled allergy and immunology fellows and NIAID faculty, including the individual research mentors. This program is designed to obtain feedback on research and assist fellows in progressing along their career trajectory.
Attendance at National Meetings
Fellows have the opportunity to attend one national meeting a year during their first year of training, and additional conferences under their research mentor in the second and third years of fellowship.
NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs)
The NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) are a set of programs established by Congress and designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. The escalating costs of advanced education and training in medicine and clinical specialties are forcing some scientists to abandon their research careers for higher-paying private industry or private practice careers. Read more about the LRPs.