Dear fellows,

2024 has been an amazing year for the Office of Education (OE)! With Dr. Megan Bohn joining the team as our new DIR training director, we are quickly expanding our programs and spending more time with you one-on-one. Don’t be a stranger—we’re always available for career and professional school advising and we would love to hear your ideas for workshops and seminars!

Dear Fellows,

In the more than 13 years that I’ve served as Editor in Chief for this publication, I’ve never met two fellows’ retreat career speakers who have had the exact same career trajectory. That’s about a hundred people who all took a different path through their STEM training and professional careers—and I would bet that the same diversity of experiences applies beyond NICHD career discussion sessions.

August Happenings

Dear Fellows,

August is a special month. It’s the time of year when a new influx of postbacs enter NICHD to begin work in their respective labs. Many of these fellows are taking one or two gap years while conducting mentored research projects and developing competitive applications for medical school or a doctoral program. To these new fellows, welcome!

I’m writing this letter as we approach winter solstice, the shortest day on the calendar. But this shortest day comes during what might have felt like the longest year. My children finally received their COVID vaccinations in December, and it felt like a monumental sigh of relief. However, this relief is not yet available to our youngest citizens, so the march goes on to identify safe and effective doses of vaccine for them. In the meantime, researchers (like many of you) continue to study the effects of SARS-CoV-2 at the molecular and epidemiological level.

To our fellows who dream of a medical degree—this issue is for you. The process of selecting potential MD or MD-PhD programs and doing a little soul searching about why you want to be a doctor is a daunting process, no doubt. But we have two articles that aim to demystify physician-scientist training and help fellows feel more comfortable taking the next steps.

During a recent NICHD Office of Education meeting, we discussed what should go in the final newsletter issue of 2021. There was a clear winner: the NICHD DIR-Howard University Initiative. The aspect of the initiative that we highlight is a collaboration between NICHD principal investigators and the undergraduate students in the Howard University Biology Honors Program. This collaborative effort, spearheaded by Triesta Fowler, MD, in the NICHD Office of Education, supports the educational development of honors students from underrepresented groups in science.

The theme of the July issue can be summed up in one word: opportunity. As an NICHD fellow, you have access to a variety of activities and programs to supplement your research with valuable career development experiences.

I asked Dr. Vivian Szymczuk, the NICHD Clinical Fellow Rep, about the most pressing issue facing clinical fellows recently. Her answer in short: ramifications from an inability to interact regularly with others due to the pandemic. This likely resonates with clinical and basic science fellows alike. During my chats with this year’s Intramural Research Fellowship recipients, all of them—every single one—indicated that interactions with their peers and mentors helped them write a winning grant proposal.

And just like that, we’re at another anniversary issue. This month marks a full 12 years of The NICHD Connection. This is a jam-packed publication, so I will keep my words brief! I mainly want to thank all of the current and former NICHD fellows who have created this strong community of researchers and clinician-scientists. Every month, I am amazed by your accomplishments and resilience!