Research

In preparing fellows for careers in academic neonatology, our program offers outstanding training opportunities in perinatal research. Research training is carried out in laboratories of Department of Pediatrics faculty and in laboratories in the Departments of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biophysics and Physiology, and Internal Medicine.

Fast Facts

• Nine of our Division of Neonatology 13 full-time faculty lead clinical or laboratory research programs funded by the NIH, American Heart Association, or March of Dimes. In 2008 this group received $8.9 million in research funding, including $6.9 million from the NIH.

• Our NICU is one of 16 NIH Neonatal Network member universities.

• Neonatology fellows are eligible to apply to 15 NIH-T32 training programs to help support their research.

• Our Department of Pediatrics, with its 119-member faculty, ranks among the top 20 in total NIH funding dollars among publicly supported medical schools.

• The UI Carver College of Medicine (CCOM) and the College of Public Health have outstanding basic and translational science program infrastructure and faculty. In 2009 the CCOM received $212.5 million in external funding and ranked 11th among public medical schools in NIH funding.

Fellow Opportunities in Perinatal Research Include:

• Receiving individualized guidance in the initial selection of their research area, research mentor, career mentor, and research project, and in subsequent scholarship and career planning and progress.

• Receiving mentoring from one or more funded research faculty within the Department of Pediatrics or other Carver College of Medicine departments.

• Receiving up to two or more years of rigorous research training (see example of 3-year Neonatal-Perinatal Curriculum) in one of our program’s two best recognized and strongest areas of research strength: 1) fetal programming (“Program in the Developmental Origins of Disease”); and 2) perinatal genetics (“Program in the Genetic Basis of Perinatal Disorders”) as illustrated here.

• Receiving research training and support from one of Iowa’s 15 NIH T32 post-doctoral training programs or from Iowa’s NIH CTSA supported Institute for Clinical and Translational Science KL2 training awards.

• Becoming involved in studies being carried out by the NIH Neonatal Network.

• Taking courses in the Graduate College of relevance to individual fellows’ research interests.

• Pursuing a graduate degree or certificate in one of the following programs:

       1) Post-Graduate Program in Translational Biomedicine

       2) Iowa Scholars in Clinical Investigation Program

       3) Public Health Masters Degree Programs

       4) Medical Education Masters Degree Program

• Participating in weekly interactive Fellows’ Core Curriculum seminars

• Acquiring greater mastery in research by doing fourth year of training

Academic Outcomes of Iowa Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellows Since 1992

• 100% of Iowa’s 24 fellow graduates have presented their work at the annual Pediatric Academic Societies spring meeting (average 4.5 poster or platform presentations at any meeting).

• 100% of Iowa’s 24 fellow graduates have had one or more first author papers published in peer review journals (average of 3.1 publications).

• At the conclusion of training 54% accepted positions at the following academic centers: 

  University of Iowa	University of Alabama	University of Arizona
  University of Arkansas	University of Kansas	University of Michigan
  University of Montreal	Northwestern University	University of Pennsylvania
  Univ of Texas San Antonio	Uniformed Services Univ	University of Wisconsin
  University of Washington	Washington University

• Nearly 50% of our program graduates remain in academic settings and continue to devote significant time and effort to their research.