Duke CAtCH supports two scholars per year, chosen from department research-focused, early-career faculty members (medical instructors or assistant professors) or Pediatrics fellows in their final year of subspecialty training. Candidates will have earned an MD (or equivalent) or joint MD / PhD degrees, completed residency training in Pediatrics, and be no more than four years after attaining board eligibility in their subspecialty. The scholar must not have previously been a PI on an individual NIH K or R grant.
2023 Cohort
Sarah Heston, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases)
Mentor: Matthew Kelly
Research Project: the role of the gut microbiome in modifying the risk of mucosal barrier injury-bloodstream infections in children undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT)
Lauren Covert, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Rheumatology)
Mentors: George Truskey, Jeffrey Dvergsten, Deborah Muoio
Research Project: Developing in vitro human tissue-derived models of juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) in order to discover pathogenic mechanisms, identify new therapeutic targets, and test drug efficacy
Previous Scholars
Rushina Cholera, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health)
Mentors: Ebony Bouware, Janet Prvu Bettger
Research Project: Evaluating cross-sector approaches to address social drivers of health among children in underresourced communities
Victoria Parente, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Hospital Medicine)
Mentor: Kathryn Pollack
Research Project: Racial/ethnic disparities in communication quality between clinicians and a pediatric patient’s family caregivers in the hospital setting