All pediatric nephrology fellows are involved in research throughout the three-year fellowship. The Renal Disease Epidemiology Training Program recruits dedicated, promising investigators and provides them formal and informal training in multidisciplinary research to develop into independent investigators with expertise in renal disease research. This program, funded by a National Research Training Award (T32) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, is directed by Lawrence Appel, M.D., M.P.H. It is headquartered at the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research and involves faculty members and fellows from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and from the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Specific Objectives

• Obtain in-depth knowledge and skills in one or more of the following, related to renal diseases: epidemiological research, biostatistic methodologies, health information systems, health services research, health disparities research, disease prevention and health promotion.
• Understand key principles in the responsible conduct of research and conduct research with the highest standards of ethics.
• Apply knowledge in research methodologies in the critical appraisal of published and proposed scientific literature.
• Generate relevant research questions independently and design and perform a study to address those research questions.
• Establish a focus for future research and scholarship in renal diseases.
• Develop skills in grant writing for NIH-sponsored grants and other funding agencies.
• Participate in peer review and submission of manuscripts.
• To achieve these objectives, fellows complete formal coursework and receive a Master in Health Science (M.H.S.) in clinical epidemiology at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Fellows have the opportunity to be mentored by faculty in the Division of Pediatric Nephrology, many of whom hold advanced degrees in clinical epidemiology and lead or participate in local and national research collaboratives. Fellows also have the opportunity to be mentored by faculty within the Division of Adult Nephrology, the Comprehensive Transplant Center, the Epidemiology Research Group in Organ Transplantation (ERGOT), and many others within the school of medicine and the school of public health.