Research
A meaningful supervised research experience is an integral component of the Pediatric Critical Care fellowship at MGHfC. Support for the trainee’s research project begins in the first months of fellowship. First year fellows meet with the Program Director at regular intervals to help identify an area of interest, visit different labs and meet with prospective mentors in the MGH/Harvard system. Research opportunities abound throughout MassGeneral, Harvard Medical School, Harvard School for Public Health, as well as other academic healthcare centers in Boston. Offerings range from basic science and translational research to clinical investigation, ethics, international health and education. Each member of the PICU faculty is actively engaged in various types of scholarly activity (click on Meet the Team for more detailed informaton abou each staff member's research activities and publications), and many have acted as research mentors for past fellows. Other fellows have identified research projects and mentors beyond the PICU. Some examples of scholarly activity undertaken by recent graduates include:
- Travel to Uganda to complete an international health study investigating the use of ultrasound technology in the evaluation of severe pediatric malaria. Resulted in manuscript entitled, “Ultrasound findings in P. falciparum malaria", submitted to CCM July 2009.
- Melendez E, Bachur R. Serious Adverse Events during Procedural Sedation with Ketamine. Pediatric Emergency Care. 25(5):325-328. May 2009.
- Translational research employing a mouse model of traumatic brain injury and resulting in the following publication, “Novel role for mannose binding lectin in the pathogenesis of non-spatial memory acquisition after traumatic brain injury in mice.” Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 2008.
- “Microparticles for Inhalational Delivery of Antipseudomonal Antibiotics,” American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Journal (AAPS J), 2008.
- “Spray-dried lipid-hyaluronan-polymethacrylate microparticles for drug delivery in the peritoneum,” Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, 2008.
- Design and conduct of a leadership curriculum for the PCCM fellows at MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC), including a series of interactive lectures and simulation training.
- “Safety of sustained alveolar inflation for alveolar recruitment in pediatric patients with acute respiratory failure,” in submission.
- “Is the degree of neutropenia a risk factor for SBI among children without underlying disease?” Pediatrics, 2006.
- Completion of the Harvard Macy Fellowship in Education and subsequent completion of a project using closed malpractice cases to create medical simulation scenarios to evaluate pediatric residents’ core clinical competencies.
- Following completion of a Fellowship in Medical Ethics through the Harvard Medical School Division of Medical Ethics, completion of an ethics thesis, “Circulatory arrest in a brain dead organ donor: Is the use of cardiac compression permissible. Journal Intensive Care Medicine.” Accepted, in press.
After identifying a project and research mentor, a scholarship oversight committee (SOC) is created, whose responsibility it is to oversee the scholarly activity of the fellow. In addition, trainees are introduced to basic science techniques, study design, data collection, statistical analysis, and other fundamental areas of study design through seminars offered throughout the MGH/Harvard Medical School community.
