Fellowship Opportunities

Division of Medical Oncology / Hematology, University of Louisville School of Medicine

University of Louisville
Division of Medical Oncology/Hematology
Faculty & Fellows

First Row: (Left to Right): Vivek R. Sharma, MD; Goetz H. Kloecker, MD, MSPH; Carolina Salvador, MD; Damian A. Laber, MD, FACP (Fellowship Program Director); Lung T. Yam, MD

Second Row (Left to Right): Muhammad Janjua, MD; Arash Rezazadeh, MD; Amir Harandi, MD; Donald M. Miller, MD, PhD (Director, JG Brown Cancer Center); Padmini U. Moffett, MD; Dharamvir Jain, MD; Mian Mushtaq, MD; Wangjian Zhong, MD, PhD; Guilherme Rabinowits, MD

Unavailable for photograph: Fred J. Hendler, MD, PhD; Fadi Kayali, MD; M. Iltaf Khan, MD, PhD

Damian A. Laber, M.D.
Director, Medical Oncology/Hematology Fellowship Program

Saira Malik
Program Manager
Phone Number: 502-562-4359/852-2522
Fax Number: 502-852-0012
Email: sairama@ulh.org

Martin Kramer
Program Assistant, Sr.
Phone Number: 502-852-4121
Fax Number: 502-852-0012
Email: martinkr@ulh.org

Type of Fellowship: Full-time combined Hematology and Medical Oncology

Positions Available: From July 1

Length of Fellowship: Three years

Number of Positions Offered Every Year: 3

Number of ACGME accredited positions: 9

Starting Annual Stipend: $51, 055 (PGY-4 Level ) as of 7/1/08

Prerequisite for Acceptance: Graduate of ACGME-accredited internal medicine training program.

History

Established in 1798, the University of Louisville is one of the oldest state Universities in the midwest. It is comprised of eleven schools and colleges with a total enrollment of 21,000. The University of Louisville School of Medicine, which was established in 1837, trains many of the healthcare providers for Kentucky and surrounding states. Through the University Hospital, it also serves as a source of tertiary and quaternary care. The James Graham Brown Cancer Center is the focus of cancer activities at the University of Louisville.

The University of Louisville Medical Center has several features which present unique clinical opportunities. In addition to the University Hospital, there are two private not-for-profit hospitals within two blocks of the Brown Cancer Center, Norton/Alliant Hospital and Jewish Hospital.

These two hospitals have served as partners with the University of Louisville Medical School in both clinical and research endeavors. In toto, they provide over 1600 beds in the downtown medical center. An example of successful collaboration of University of Louisville faculty members and a partner hospital, is the first implantation of the Abiocor artificial heart which was performed at Jewish Hospital earlier in 2001. The other of the downtown hospitals, Norton Hospital, has had ongoing discussions about the development of a Cancer Hospital as a joint project in the Louisville downtown medical center. Developing relationships with these two organizations has provided important resources which will dramatically aid in the development of a Comprehensive Cancer Center in Louisville. Importantly, these partner hospitals and their healthcare networks will provide access to a large number of patients for clinical trial development.

In 1977, the Regional Cancer Center Corporation Board, a group of Louisville citizens, raised funds for the construction and operation of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center which opened in 1981. In 1987, the RCCC donated the Cancer Center to the University of Louisville. During the following decade, the Brown Cancer Center developed strong programs in bone marrow transplantation and radiation oncology. In 1999, President John Shumaker designated the achievement of Comprehensive Cancer Center designation by the National Cancer Institute as the highest priority for the University of Louisville. Dr. Donald M. Miller was recruited as Director of the Brown Cancer Center. The fortuitous development of Kentucky’s Research Challenge Trust Fund (commonly known as Bucks for Brains") program by the Governor and State Legislature played an important role in the recruitment of a director and the subsequent development of the Brown Cancer Center with the establishment of seven new endowed chairs during the past four years.

The James Graham Brown Cancer Center has had a period of almost unprecedented growth since 1999. Since Dr. Miller’s arrival, sixty four new cancer investigators have been recruited to the University of Louisville and the Brown Cancer Center. Research support at the Center has increased by more than 100 fold, from $300 thousand in 1998 to over $30 million in 2003. The establishment of the Molecular Imaging Research Center, a 13,000 square food addition to the Brown Cancer Center has created a center which houses a PET/CT scanner, 2 cyclotrons and 800 Mhz and 600 Mhz NMR instrutments. The Brown Cancer Center has received both the largest Foundation Grant ($15 million from the Brown Foundation) and the largest NIH grant ($11.2 million Center for Biologic Research Excellence) in the history of the University of Louisville. In 2002 the Brown Cancer Center received an NCI P20 planning grant for the development of a Comprehensive Cancer Center. The University of Louisville Foundation just committed $8.2 million for the renovation of the clinical space within the Brown Cancer Center.

The rapid rate of growth of the Brown Cancer Center has required considerable resources. The University of Louisville has made a major financial commitment to the development of the Cancer Center. In fact, during the period from 1999 to 2001, over $50 million have been invested in the development of new programs. In addition, substantial space commitments have been required. The James Brown Cancer Center currently has 97,000 square feet of clinical and research space. Space commitments in the Baxter I and II Research Buildings have increased this significantly. Clinical volume has grown to more than 3,000 new patients seen at the Brown Cancer Center in 2001, a number that has continued to increase in the last 2 years.

In 2001 Dr. Damian A. Laber became the Director of the Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship Program. Since then the program has been reorganized to create the best academic environment. In 2002 it was expanded from a total of 6 to 9 ACGME-accredited fellowship positions. Since 2002, every year more than a dozen research studies are published or presented in national meetings or peer-reviewed journals by our fellows under the guidance and supervision of our faculty.

Training Positions

Three medical oncology and hematology fellows are accepted each year: there are a total of nine fellows in the program. Fellowship candidates must have completed internal medicine residency in the USA with a record of excellence. Our program is highly competitive, and candidates with excellent performance and strong letters of recommendation are invited to interview. Applications are due February 1, one year prior to starting the fellowship. Interviews with five to seven faculty members are held April through May of the year prior to starting the fellowship.

Clinical Training

The training program includes an extensive clinical experience; by the end of the fellowship, the fellow will have seen virtually every tumor type, oncological problem, and benign and malignant hematological disorder. The program includes inpatient care and consultation; formal teaching rounds are held daily at each hospital. The fellows attend two continuity clinics weekly during all three years of the fellowship at the J.G. Brown Cancer Center and Louisville Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The first year and a half of training generally consists of two or three-month blocks on the clinical services the University of Louisville Hospital, combined Alliant and Jewish Hospitals, and the Louisville Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Bone marrow transplant experience is provided and required. The second year and a half of training is very flexible and is geared toward the interests of the trainee. Additional clinical rotations at our core hospitals are available, as well as electives in blood banking, pheresis unit, pathology, radiation therapy, gynecological oncology, outpatient specialty clinics, and pediatric hematology and oncology. Fellows may and are encouraged to have 11/2 years of research time.

Numerous teaching conferences are held, including J. G. Brown Cancer Center Tumor Board, Combined Modality Conference, Hematology Conference, Best Papers in Oncology and Hematology, Molecules against Cancer, Basic Research Conference, Journal Club, Norton’s Hospital Multidisciplinary Breast Conference, VAMC Tumor Board, and other invited speakers lectures. Fellows attend and often lead some of the tumor boards and other conferences.

Research Training

Participation in research, clinical or basic science is expected from all the fellows. Opportunities are abundant. The James Graham Brown Cancer Center is dedicated to the development of research programs.

These additions to the research of the Brown Cancer Center will assure the Center's role as a national leader in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Several existing research programs, including the Gene Therapy Program, are developing new approaches utilizing cloning techniques and identifying unique targets. The Chemokine/Growth Factor Program concentrates on the structure of cell surface receptors to design agents that may inhibit uncontrolled cell growth. The Stem Cell Biology Program will capitalize on existing strengths in Blood and Marrow Transplantation and the Institute for Cellular Therapeutics. Currently in the planning stages is a Structural Biology Program, which will utilize physical techniques such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and x-ray crystallography to characterize the structure of molecules that play a role in the abnormal growth characteristics of cancer cells.

The Brown Cancer Center houses several shared facilities including state of-the-art Flow Cytometry and DNA sequencing instrumentation. Other shared facilities include the Molecular Modeling Core Facility and Vector Production Facility. In the next two years, new facilities will be created including a Microsequence Array Facility to provide researchers with specific genetic information about their patients. Physicians will be able to design specific gene therapies based on the patient's unique genetic "fingerprint." A new Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging facility will allow researchers at the Brown Cancer Center to study the structures of proteins and nucleic acids that are targets for novel therapies.

A new Gene Knockout Research Facility will enable researchers to provide their own testing tools to decide if a particular line of research is worthy of pursuit. These new facilities, along with some new equipment, will position the Brown Cancer Center as a leader in cancer research throughout the region.

Many clinical research opportunities are present within our section. Dr. Miller specializes in clinical and basic problems in melanoma. Dr. Laber is studying new treatments for genitourinary malignancies. Dr. Bhupalam does clinical research in head and neck cancer. Dr. Hendler is engaged in studies of prevention and early detection of lung cancer. Outside of the section, there are legions of other opportunities to collaborate with basic and clinical faculty in areas such as molecular biology, genetics, pharmacology, and many others.

Fellows may also participate in a number of clinical protocols and clinical projects that are being conducted in the section. Fellows are encouraged to design and write their own protocol, as well as to follow it to completion during their fellowship year.

Performance Evaluations

Faculty are expected to provide an objective written evaluation of your performance on each rotation. Similarly, we seek your evaluation of the clinical and didactic skills of the faculty with which you work. These evaluations area available for your review at any time. On a semiannual basis, the program director will review with individual fellows the progress of their training with the goal of identifying areas of relative weakness and planning curriculum adjustments to improve in these areas. All of us are “works in progress” and the goal of all evaluations are to improve our knowledge base and clinical skills.

Weekly Schedule

Attending Rounds: Times to be set by the attending of the month. Rounds on weekends are arranged by the Attending and covering fellow or resident.

Clinics: The outpatient clinics are at the BCC and VA hospital. Fellows are assigned to 2 half-day clinics for 3 years. Residents are assigned to a half-day clinic at the BCC and are required to attend it for the duration of their rotation.

Conferences: Attendance at the conferences is mandatory for all fellows and residents. Medicine residents are excused on Wednesday to attend the medicine lectures.

Day	Time	Title
Monday	12:20 a.m.– 2 p.m.	Hem/Onc Didactic Conference
Tuesday	8-9 a.m.	VA Journal Club (every other week)
Wednesday	12-1 p.m.	Tumor Conference
Thursday	12-1 p.m.	Multi-Modality Conference
Thursday	3:00-5:00 p.m.	Core Curriculum
Thursday	4-5 p.m.	Basic Science (optional)
Friday	7-8 a.m.	Breast Cancer Tumor Board
Friday	12-1 p.m.	Hematology Conference

Fellowship Training Program Selection Process

The selection process is designed to ensure that Teaching Fellows possess the commitment, talent. Skills and necessary personal qualities that will allow them to contribute deeply to the program, and at the same time grow professionally over the three-year Fellowship Program.

Selection Process

Applications will be reviewed via ERAS. If the application meets the initials process (see attached page for requirements) then the applicant is invited for an interview.
The interview consists of:
- Program overview and meeting with Program Director
- Interview with faculty members
- Lunch and conference
- Tour of the facilities and meeting with fellows
Once all interviews are completed the Training Program selection committee will meet to decide which applicants are ranked and how they are ranked.
Each committee members provides a written evaluation of every candidate that they have interviewed.
The program coordinator will gather all the evaluations and forward to the selection committee for final ranking.
All awardees and non-awardees will be notified via ERAS match. All selected candidate must, in turn, confirm their willingness to participate and sign a formal letter prior to the beginning of the fellowship training year.

Fellowship Training Program Requirements

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

Completed three years of Internal Medicine in an ACGME Accredited Program.
Graduate from said school a M.D., D.O., or equivalent.
Application only accepted via ERAS.
Deadline for applications is February 1.
Completed USLME I and II prior to granting of interview or ECFMG certification for non-US graduates.
Presentation of at least 4 letters of recommendation (original).
The University only sponsors J-1 visas. H1-B and other visa are not sponsored.
Positions are not offered outside of the match.
In the interview, resident applicants are rated with respect to verbal ability, professional demeanor and interpersonal skills. Following this interview and review of all pertinent information including medical school documents, test scores and letters of recommendation, a decision is made to rank or not rank an applicant.