Fellowships and Training

The Enrichment Program of the Cooperative Centers of Excellence in Hematology at Indiana University School of Medicine (IU-CCEH) fosters interactions and promotes scientific exchange among investigators and trainees involved in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) nonmalignant hematology research.

The program provides forums for research training and mentoring of students at all educational levels as well as junior faculty in the early stages of their independent scientific careers. These include training in advances in instrumentation, computerization, and new technology platforms at the molecular, cellular, and animal levels. Many of these advances will be offered by the biomedical cores of the IU-CCEH to young investigators and trainees nationwide involved in nonmalignant hematology research.

The enrichment program paves the way for future scientific discovery by increasing opportunities for collaboration and provide training environments that foster enthusiasm and confidence in students and junior faculty. The enrichment program:

• enhances interdisciplinary interactions amongst CCEH faculty and trainees, both within and outside IU School of Medicine.
• organizes educational venues for students at different educational levels through a combination of internships, interactive discussions, and a CCEH Core sponsored interactive workshop.
• offers a travel award program to facilitate customized, multi-tiered education and training opportunities for trainees and early phase investigators locally and nationwide to conduct nonmalignant hematology research through the IU-CCEH Cores.
• serves as a national resource in the training of nonmalignant hematology research that can facilitate and assist in the use of IU-CCEH cores by other CCEH members and by young investigators outside IU School of Medicine.

The enrichment program supports recruitment and retention of productive and talented young investigators by providing innovative, impactful opportunities to enhance training and mentoring in the field of nonmalignant hematology research. Training provided by the program will foster ground-breaking discoveries that can ultimately be applied to development of clinical trials targeting inherited and non-inherited disorders of the hematopoietic system.

Students from the IU-CCEH biomedical research internship, the Wells Center for Pediatric summer internship program and the IU Medical Physician Engineers, Scientists, and Clinicians Preparatory (MPESC-Prep) program participate each June in a two-day hands-on workshop in non-malignant hematopoiesis. In 2024, the workshop was held June 25-27. The workshop is complemented with a lunch lecture series. Interactive sessions include:

Experimental Mouse Resources Core – bone-marrow processing and colony-forming unit assays

Hypoxia Core – technology and equipment to study role of hypoxia in hematopoiesis 

Imaging and flow cytometry – technology and equipment to study phenotypic and functional biology of hematopoietic cells

Luncheon lecture and discussion series – basics of hematopoiesis, statistics for hematopoiesis, career perspectives and opportunities in the field of non-malignant hematopoiesis

All lectures and interactive sessions will be recorded and available to all CCEH members and trainees nationwide.

This advanced workshop will be conducted annually and offered via zoom nationally to pre-doctoral postdoctoral fellows, and interested faculty.

The morning session will consist of technology and research lectures on confocal microscopy, multi-photon microscopy, intravital microscopy and quantitative imaging analysis. For on-site participants, the afternoon session will consist on hands-on tutorials in confocal microscopy, animal surgery, methods of intravital microscopy and digital imaging analysis.