Clinical Research Training

Clinical research trainees at NIAID engage in advanced basic, translational, and clinical research resulting in the translation of laboratory discoveries into novel therapies, diagnostics, vaccines, and medical countermeasures to prevent and treat infectious, immune-mediated, and allergic diseases.

NIH is home to the world’s largest clinical research hospital—the NIH Clinical Center—offering unparalleled resources and opportunities to conduct clinical studies.

There are several routes to gaining training experience within NIAID as a clinical trainee:

  • NIH Office of Training and Education (OITE) (for all research training)
    • Postdoctoral and visiting fellows
    • Graduate student programs, through formal programs, international exchanges, and for individual students wanting NIH research experience
    • Postbaccalaureate fellows
    • Summer students, from high school through to graduate school
  • NIH Office of Clinical Research Training and Medical Education (OCRTME) (for physicians and medical students)
    • Graduate medical education programs, including residency and subspecialty fellowship training programs
    • Medical student training program
    • Medical student electives

Why Train at NIAID?

Emilia Liana Falcone, M.D., Ph.D., former clinical fellow in the Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology, director of the new Microbiome and Mucosal Defense Research Unit and assistant research professor at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute

Credit: NIAID

“As a Canadian trainee with a keen interest in research, I knew that I wanted to complete my infectious diseases fellowship at the NIH early on in my residency training. I distinctly remember inviting Dr. John Bennett, who was the program director at the time, to come and visit my poster at an Infectious Diseases Society of America meeting. To my surprise, I ended up talking to THE Dr. Bennett for two hours! This is just an example of the sort of attention and support that I received throughout my time at the NIH, which started as a fellowship, and then became a Ph.D. though the NIH-Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program, followed by a faculty position as an assistant clinical investigator. I ended up spending almost nine years at the NIH and can honestly say that I enjoyed every single day of my time there. As a clinical fellow, I interacted daily with giants in the field of infectious disease, I had the opportunity to rotate at the major hospitals within District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and I received excellent didactic teaching in an extremely collegial environment. As a research fellow, I had the privilege of working with Dr. Steven Holland, with whom I was given every opportunity and resource needed to develop an independent research program while developing my scientific toolbox in a carefully mentored setting. I am now a clinician-scientist and director of my own research unit back in my hometown of Montreal, and I can say without any reservation, that I owe a large part of my current success to the collection of experiences that defined my time at the NIH.”- Emilia Liana Falcone, M.D., Ph.D.

 

Contact Information

For specific questions, contact the Predoctoral/Postdoctoral/Visiting Fellow Program Coordinator.
 

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