Welcome to the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program!
Why Choose Our Program?
The University of Rochester’s Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases has a longstanding history of important research contributions and clinical excellence. Through the work of Drs. David H. Smith and Porter Anderson, our institution was instrumental in the development of the first conjugated vaccine against H. influenzae type b, an innovation that has saved countless lives and for which the investigators received the prestigious Albert Lasker Clinical Medicine Research Award in 1996.
- Today, investigators within the division are undertaking groundbreaking basic, clinical, and translational research, including projects focused on the development of novel vaccines against important pathogens such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and Pneumocystis jiroveci, as well as development of a universal influenza vaccine.
- Our faculty are recognized researchers, mentors and educators, with a track record of extramural funding from agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the Center for Disease Control, private foundations, and industry.
- Integration with outside divisions and departments, including Microbiology and Immunology, Internal Medicine-Infectious Diseases, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Infection Prevention provides our trainees with diverse clinical and research training opportunities in a truly collaborative environment.
Our Program Aims
Our three-year, ACGME-accredited program aims to:
- Educate the next generation of academic Pediatric ID physicians to make informed clinical decisions regarding diagnostic testing and the application of clinical knowledge and acumen to direct appropriate and compassionate management of children with infectious diseases.
- Teach the principles of research while fellows complete an independent project in a field relevant to Pediatric infectious diseases, gaining the knowledge and skills to become leading academic physicians in their chosen field of study.
- Train fellows to become competent educators of the next generation of physicians, and prepare them to be confident and effective leaders of a medical team able to collaborate with colleagues in microbiology, pharmacy, public health and infection prevention.
Timothy Flerlage, M.D., Director
Fellowship Training Program
What Makes Us Unique
Protected Research Time
Fellows have 22 months of protected research time to complete an academic project. As part of this rigorous experience, fellows work closely with respected investigators throughout the institution to independently complete a project that inspires their academic advancement while making a valuable contribution to the field of pediatric infectious diseases.
Mentor Relationships
To ensure successful research experiences, our fellows have both a primary research mentor as well as a Scholarship Oversight Committee (SOC) that includes a member of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases division. Throughout fellowship, trainees are given adequate protected time to focus on scientific inquiry and develop their scholarly work.
Diverse Academic Areas
Our program offers multiple academic tracks for fellows to pursue during subspecialty training. Academic projects that focus on basic and translational science, Infection Prevention, Antimicrobial Stewardship, and clinical research are available to best tailor a fellow’s scholarly activity to his or her areas of interest.
Follow Our Fellows on a Tour
What Our Graduates Say...
“My fellowship training delivered a wide variety of clinical and research opportunities. With excellent mentorship and guidance, I built a project from grant to publication, obtained an MPH degree, and sharpened my clinical skills. The faculty at URMC are all friendly, collaborative, and always eager for you to succeed!”
Mundeep K. Kainth, DO, MPH
- Assistant Professor, Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Cohen Children’s Medical Center
Steven and Alexandra Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra University - Instructor, Feinstein Institute of Medical Research
Support for an Advanced Degree or Dual Training
Our fellowship program is supportive of fellows who wish to pursue advanced degrees during subspecialty training, with past fellows successfully obtaining Ph.D. or M.P.H. degrees. We also offer a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation (MS-CLI).
University employees are able to obtain a 95% tuition waiver with dedicated time for coursework as appropriate.
In addition, our flexibility, smaller size, and collegial atmosphere will allow interested candidates to pursue dual training in Medicine-Pediatric Infectious Diseases or Pediatric ID in combination with other pediatric subspecialties, such as ID-Critical Care or ID-Pulmonary.
A National Leader in Improving Quality and Safety
ACGME has chosen URMC to be one of eight institutions to help transform the way we improve quality and safety. Our fellows play a key role in changing the clinical learning environment here at our institution and across the country. This initiative furthers our commitment to continuously improve health care by advancing the quality of physician education.