Research Opportunities

Opportunities for scholarly activity for fellows are numerous and supported by dedicated mentorship from faculty, structured research education and training, our research core housed within the Congenital Heart Center (MCHORD- Michigan Congenital Heart Outcomes Research and Discovery Program), and broad opportunities for collaborations across campus and with national organizations.

Fellow-Centric Research Experience

Fellows in the ECHO Lab

The fellow research curriculum includes a core series of research design and methods didactics, journal club, monthly fellow research in progress seminars, regular MCHORD research conferences, as well as many other educational opportunities across campus. Masters level training is available for those wishing to pursue careers with a strong research focus.

Fellows have the opportunity to participate in all aspects of scholarly activity.  Research expertise in the Congenital Heart Center spans the spectrum of investigation and includes basic/translational science, clinical trials, health services and outcomes research, quality improvement, and education science.  MCHORD also houses numerous national registries within the data core for Cardiac Networks United as well as a large multi-center biorepository.  Our center is one of the nine core clinical sites participating in the NHLBI-funded Pediatric Heart Network.

In addition to our own heart center’s activity, there are numerous opportunities to take advantage of the broad expertise and collaborations available across the University of Michigan campus. These include ongoing collaborations with Biomedical Engineering, Genetics and Metabolism, School of Public Health, Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, Fast Forward Medical Innovation Program, and many others.

MCHORD clinical research unit

Our dedicated research core, MCHORD, is nationally recognized for supporting novel pediatric cardiovascular research. MCHORD provides support for all aspects of fellow research as well as guidance, in conjunction with the primary faculty mentor, spanning aspects of study design, data collection and data management, regulatory issues, statistical analysis, scientific presentation and publication skills, and grant writing.  MCHORD personnel include study nurses and coordinators, data managers, and biostatisticians dedicated to supporting Congenital Heart Center research. Faculty span pediatric cardiology, cardiac surgery, anesthesia and many other related disciplines including GI, renal, neurology, etc. Our faculty and fellows are highly productive, publishing >170 manuscripts annually.

Our center and faculty also hold leadership roles in many national initiatives which offer further opportunities for collaborative projects. Examples include the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium (PC4), Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Collaboarative (CNOC), National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPC-QIC), and Pediatric Heart Network.