Undergraduates and Prematriculating Medical Students
UAB has several programs for undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, and prematriculating students who want to engage in research related to the nephro-urology fields. The UAB Department of Urology participates in two summer research programs organized by the Division of Nephrology, in which students work on a project related to the urology field with the mentorship of the Urology faculty. The UAB KURE - Kidney, Urology, and non-Malignant Hematology (KUH) Undergraduate Research Experience program is an NIH funded Summer 12-week program (8 weeks on campus) Research Program (NIH R25 DK 115353; NIH U54 DK126087 UAB Childhood Cystic Kidney Disease Core Center).
The UAB PROmoTE (Predoctoral PhD and MD research training in teams) trains pre-matriculating PhD, pre-matriculating MD, and Post-Baccalaureate scholars for a team science based summer project (8 weeks) focused on kidney-relevant research (NIHR25 DK 112731).
Medical Students
There are several lines of support for these medical student research programs including departmental and intra and extra-institutional. The UAB Department of Urology is committed to providing support for medical students to engage in such programs. Medical students have also been successful in obtaining funding from extra-departmental sources to participate in research within the Department of Urology. All participating students will be asked to complete an evaluation form regarding this research experience upon completion of their project work.
Graduate Students
UAB has a robust biomedical science community currently comprised of 440 graduate students and 350 faculty members. Graduate students in the Departments of Pathology, Nutrition Science, Cell/Developmental/Integrative/Biology, and Biochemistry/Molecular Genetics may have an interest and should contact us at (gradschool@uab.edu). The NORC has an NIH-funded pre-doctoral training program (T32HL105349). Co-PI Dr. Barbara Gower serves as a faculty mentor in this training program and will undoubtedly facilitate the recruitment of such students to participate in this program. All participating students will be asked to complete an evaluation form every six months during their period of training regarding this research experience.
The Deep South KUH Premier Research and Inter-disciplinary Mentored Education (PRIME), funded by the NIH (U2CDK133422) is part if the nationwide U2C/TL1 training network and provides opportunities for up to 2-year pre-doctoral fellowship in area related to Urology.
Residents
Urology residents are expected to engage in scholarly activity and will be invited to participate in these studies. All participating residents will be asked to complete an evaluation form regarding this research experience upon completion of their project work
Fellows
The Department of Urology is committed to training postdoctoral research fellows. Over the last 10 years, we have trained four postdoctoral fellows, some of whom received funding from the American Urological Association’s Urologic Care Foundation. They have had diverse training backgrounds, both PhD and MD.
Dr. Tanecia Mitchell, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Urology, has focused her research on oxalate kidney stones and immunity and has been supported by an NIH NIDDK Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award (K01DK106284), an R03DK106284 and recently by an NIH NIDDK R01DK123542.
Dr. Sonia Fargue, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Urology and has focused her research on kidney stones/oxalate metabolism and has been supported by an NIH NIDDK Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award (K01DK114332) and R03DK129497.
Dr. Kyle Wood, MD, is an Associate Professor of Urology and supported by an NIH NIDDK Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development (K08115833) and focusing on obesity and kidney stones/oxalate metabolism.
Dr. Joe Crivelli, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Urology and is supported by an NIH NIDDK Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development (K23DK135844) investigating Social and Dietary Determinants of Kidney Stone Risk.
The UAB NORC also has a postdoctoral NIH-funded T32 program.
The Deep South KUH Premier Research and Inter-disciplinary Mentored Education (PRIME), funded by the NIH (U2CDK133422) is part if the nationwide U2C/TL1 training network and provides opportunities for 1 to 2-year post-doctoral fellowship in area related to Urology.
Fellows are given the opportunity to enroll in a Master of Science in Public Health in Clinical and Translational Science program in the UAB School of Public Health. This is a rigorous 2-year program in which the trainees take core courses in statistics, study design, epidemiology, clinical research, behavioral science, data management and patient-based outcome measurements. The generation of a thesis is required. Fellows with more advanced skill sets obtained through prior training (ie. PhD, MPH) will receive focused, intensive training to augment their research proficiency including selected course work and participation in more advanced degree programs. All participating fellows will be asked to complete an evaluation form regarding their research experience every six months during their training.