Neuropathology Fellowship

RESEARCH

The second year of the fellowship includes a large block of time dedicated to scholarly research. A wide range of clinical and basic research opportunities exist within the division, the pathology department and the medical school.  Neuropathology faculty will mentor fellows and assist them in identifying an appropriate project so as to develop an area of investigational expertise using state-of-the-art approaches to clinical, translational and/or cellular and molecular avenues of research.  During this time, fellows will further develop their abilities to critically evaluate the literature, generate hypotheses and design experiments to answer clinically important questions.

Fellows are encouraged to explore the wide range of clinical and basic research opportunities that exist within the division, the pathology department and the medical school.  During their research rotation, fellows are fully funded by the Department at a level equal to their support while on clinical service. Financial support for clinical and translational research projects is available through the Anatomic Pathology Project Review and Funding Committee, an internal grant review panel that awards up to $30,000/year for projects within the division.  The Molecular Pathology Research Laboratory supports these projects by providing a variety of services at cost, including the construction of tissue microarrays, access to laser capture microdissection, and immunohistochemistry.  If the fellow elects to pursue a basic research project, NIH-funded investigators studying neurological diseases are abundant on campus, both within the neuropathology division and throughout the medical center.  Additionally, the neuroscience community at the University of Michigan has well over 100 investigators in various departments in the medical school and college.  Fellows are able to choose among these diverse opportunities for laboratory research.

UM Research Opportunities