This fellowship is available to individuals interested in obtaining dedicated training in clinical research focused on pediatric surgical conditions. Fellows will gain hands-on experience with local, regional and national prospective trials, outcomes research and large database analyses (e.g., NSQIP-Pediatrics, NTDB/TQIP, etc.).

Emphasis will be placed on study design, implementation and manuscript and grants preparation. Fellows will be paired with a primary research mentor from among eight pediatric surgeons involved in research spanning the breadth of pediatric surgical disease. Specific areas of research focus within the division include health disparities in pediatric surgical outcomes, development and use of clinical pathways in trauma and burn care, application of biomedical informatics techniques to quality improvement, management of congenital diaphragmatic hernia and translational projects involving congenital colorectal disease.

Coursework in epidemiology and clinical research can be obtained through the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Pursuit of a master’s degree in epidemiology may be made available to interested candidates.

Fellow Awards

• Laura Veras, MD - Association for Academic Surgery, Fall Courses Travel Grant (2016), University of Tennessee Chancellor’s Pilot Award (2016), Tennessee Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, Best Clinical Science Paper (2017), Tepas Award Finalist, Pediatric Trauma Society (2017), American Pediatric Surgery Association Featured Article of Interest (2020)
• Ruth Lewit, MD - REACH Hirschsprung’s Foundation Research Grant (2020), Le Bonheur Foundation Fellows Grant (2020)

Research Interests

• Health disparities in pediatric surgical outcomes
• Development and use of clinical pathways in trauma and burn care
• Application of biomedical informatics techniques to quality improvement
• Management of congenital diaphragmatic hernia and ECMO
• Translational projects involving congenital colorectal disease