Our program trains individuals to be outstanding clinicians who go on to become leaders in clinical care, education and research. To this end, we have designed two tracks within our program: a clinical scholars track that is a 2-year program only and a research scholars track that is a 2-year program plus an additional 1-2 years as research fellow. 

In the first year, all fellows will undergo identical clinical training with the same schedule of rotations. During the latter half of the first year, fellows choose which track they would like to pursue for the rest of their fellowship. Those who choose the Research Scholars track will apply for a slot in one of our institutional NIH-funded training grants (T32), which will support at least 2 additional years of research fellowship training. In the second year of fellowship, those on the Clinical Scholars Track will continue to have clinical rotations along with research blocks. Those on the Research Scholars Track will have more time allotted for research during their second year of fellowship and will continue as postdoctoral research fellows for and additional 1-2 years which will primarily be focused on research training.   For both tracks, fellows are eligible to sit for ABIM certification exams in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at the end of 2 years.  

Clinical Scholars Track

The goal of this track is for fellows to set up careers as master clinicians in either academic or clinical practice settings. This track is best suited for people who wish the focus of their career to be sub-specialty patient care and/or medical education. The duration of training is for 2 years.

During the second fellowship year, clinical experiences are tailored to individual goals. In addition, we expect our fellows to engage in scholarly activity and submit an abstract for a national meeting. Broadly speaking we envision fellows to tailor their clinical work and scholarly activity to establish a clinical niche. 

Medical Education opportunities: All of our fellows, regardless of track, participate in our education mission. We require this because i) teaching enhances one’s own knowledge, and ii) our fellows do a fantastic job teaching residents and students! The required sessions that our fellows teach include: i) lectures to Johns Hopkins Osler (internal medicine) interns on basic endocrinology topics (~ 8 talks per year), ii) Lectures and demonstration workshops with Osler residents (1 half-day in the second year).

For those fellows with a specific interest in clinical education, we are fortunate and proud to offer additional opportunities for training:

1. Free medical education course offerings through the Institute for Excellence in Education (IEE)
2. Randol Barker scholarship to participate in a 9-month longitudinal course in teaching skills
3. Additional lectures to residents at Bayview Medical Center and to Hopkins medical students 
4. The annual IEE conference and celebration

Research Scholars Track

The goal of this track is for fellows to become well rounded endocrinologists who are strongly positioned for careers as clinician scientists at academic centers. To this end, our goal is to offer protected time for fellows to develop independent research projects that they work on for 2-3 years under the close guidance of their research mentors. At Hopkins, there are amazing people doing great work with strong track records of mentorship. Our goal for fellows on this track is to take advantage of this fertile environment, acquire a strong foundation in research skills, complete a significant project and be well on their way to launching a career as a productive clinician scientist.

Applicants should indicate their interest in this track at the time of the interview so we can tailor their interview day appropriately. Once matched, fellows confirm their selection of this track in the spring of their first year of fellowship and apply for funding to support mentored research for an additional 1-2 years as a research fellow (see below) Note that the schedule is designed so that Research Scholars fellows complete all ACGME requirements in 2 years, though we tailor the second year of fellowship to accommodate their research training. The total duration of training is typically 3-4 years (we call it a “2-plus” structure). The third and potential fourth years are not part of ACGME requirements, with >80% protected time for research. 

Clinical Research

Funding for the research years comes primarily through our NIH-funded T32 for Clinical Research and Epidemiology in Diabetes and Endocrinology. Therefore, we encourage interested candidates to review a list of potential mentors/research. We believe mentorship is critically important and invest time to ensure fellows choose projects and mentors that are a good fit. Additional sources of mentors and T32 opportunities include:

• The Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research: houses collaborative epidemiologic, clinical, and translational research between the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health, is a rich resource of cross-disciplinary research mentors and funding opportunities such as in cardiovascular or renal diseases

• Johns Hopkins Center for Aging: several of our faculty serve as faculty at this cross-disciplinary center focused on aging research, which has several NIA-funded T32 grants in clinical and translational research in aging. 

• Mid-Atlantic Center for Cardiometabolic Health Equity (MACCHE) in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity:  aims to advance health equity in Maryland by tackling disparities in cardiometabolic diseases.

In addition, we strongly encourage fellows to apply for F32 awards as well, because these are individual awards to the fellow. Because the main funding mechanism is our clinical research T32, this track is not well suited for fellows on a J1 or H1B visa. 

Basic & Translational Research

The Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism (EDM) Basic Research Laboratories bring together leading scientists to investigate how endocrine and metabolic processes influence whole-body health. Based at Johns Hopkins Bayview, our expanded facilities support cutting-edge research using preclinical models to uncover the molecular mechanisms driving endocrine-related diseases. Strategically located near our hospitals and clinics, these laboratories foster close collaboration between scientists and clinicians, accelerating the translation of groundbreaking discoveries into improved patient care.

These are some of the ongoing research projects at EDM laboratories.

• Dr. Rexford Ahima; nutrient utilization in skeletal muscle during exercise, and pathogenesis of MASLD and MASH. 
• Dr. Frederick Anokye-Danso; transcriptional regulation of adipose development in health and disease
• Dr. Ron Banerjee; hormonal signals in pancreatic islets, with a focus on the adaptive responses of insulin-producing beta-cells during pregnancy.
• Dr. Maria Golson; Pancreatic endocrine cell development and function, and long-term health consequence of gestational diabetes.
• Dr. Sangwon F. Kim; Impact of metabolic dysfunction on cardiovascular diseases, and medication-associated metabolic disruption as adverse side-effects.

Research Didactics

• Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical & Translational Research (ICTR) offers an annual week-long Introduction to Clinical Research Summer Course, which is free for fellows

• Foundational courses in biostatics, clinical trial design and conduct, epidemiology and other research methodology are offered with full tuition remission (16 credits maximum) for fellows at the School of Public Health.

• The School of Public Health also offers short courses through their Winter or Summer Institutes, with tuition remission for 1 non-credit course per term for fellows.

• Graduate Training Program in Clinical Investigation, which offers several degree programs (masters or PhD) at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, consistently ranked as the #1 school of public health in the nation. GTPCI is funded by our clinical research T32.

Recent Graduates from Research Scholars Track

Below is a list of recent fellows who graduated from our Research Scholars track, the source of their funding, & the original scientific publications that emerged from specifically their fellowship work.