Laboratory Genetics and Genomics Fellowship

The University Hospitals Department of Pathology in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals Translational Laboratory, and the Center for Human Genetics offers a two-year ACGME accredited Laboratory Genetics and Genomics Fellowship (LGG) program. The mission of the program is to train LGG fellows in clinical genetic testing through a series of graded responsibilities culminating in independent decision-making. Within the scope of the program is training for a career in laboratory leadership of a molecular/cytogenetic diagnostic laboratory. Valuable learning is acknowledged to take place not only in interactions between the faculty and the fellow but also in interactions among fellows, residents, and genetic counseling students. This is a comprehensive program preparing the next generation of laboratory professionals to practice both cytogenetics and molecular genetics as one entity for the betterment of patient care.

The Goals of our Program

Our goal is to train fellows to become competent and well-rounded laboratory professionals with a thorough understanding of the concept and application of competency to perform testing as well as a grasp of accessioning-to-report information flow. The LGG fellowship training will provide a practical and applied understanding of cytogenetics and molecular diagnostics as related to genetic diseases (germline/ constitutional) and cancers (somatic/ acquired).

Fellows completing the training are expected to demonstrate:

1. Medical knowledge about cytogenetics and molecular theory, methods, instrumentation, and disease diagnosis in a clinical setting, including pre- and post- analytical quality control and quality improvement measures.
2. Interpersonal and communication skills that result in effective information exchange and assisting the physician regarding appropriate test ordering/utilization.
3. Professionalism, as manifested through a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities with adherence to ethical principles.

The LGG fellowship program provides specialized training with exposure to various genetic clinical tests, test interpretation, clinical report writing, troubleshooting, laboratory accreditation and inspection processes (CAP and CLIA), patient interaction, and new assay validation or test development. Immersion into various genetic clinics (including prenatal, cancer, metabolic, and general genetics) are included in this program with a one month rotation shared among specialties and 2 weeks with metabolism/biochemical. These rotations include patient interaction under the supervision of clinical geneticists and licensed genetic counselors. Following this rotation, the fellow will attend clinic once/month. To further education, the fellow will participate in biweekly cytogenetic and molecular didactics, weekly genetics resident/fellow educational sessions, monthly genetics grand rounds, and six relevant graduate level genetics courses at CWRU. The fellows may assume some laboratory management and administrative responsibilities and meet with technical leadership.

Trainees are responsible for triaging all testing orders, preparing genetics notes for weekly adult and pediatric hematology /oncology tumor board meetings, attending monthly manager meetings, presenting annually at genetic grand rounds, presenting real-time cases weekly at cytogenetic abnormal meeting, presenting at least one case monthly at molecular genomics division meeting, presenting one case weekly at genetics case conference, preparing for and presenting in each didactics session, and pre-reviewing cases prior to sign-out. The director encourages publication of interesting cases and presentation at major conferences.

Upon completion of this training program, fellows are eligible for certification by the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG) in Laboratory Genetics and Genomics.

LGG Fellowship Requirements

Eligible fellowship candidates must have a PhD in a biological sciences field.
Post-doctoral experience in genetics or molecular is preferred.

Location: Center for Human Genetics, W.O. Walker Building, University Hospitals Translational Laboratory (UHTL), and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

Numbers of Appointments

Two fellows (two years accredited by ACGME).

The application deadline is September 15th of this year and the fellowship starts on July 1 the following year. Please contact the fellowship coordinator for additional information.

Stipend

Salary is commensurate with current PGY scale at CWRU/UH with first year beginning at PGY5. The Graduate Medical Education office maintains a comprehensive detailed list of up-to-date resident benefits and salary information.

Applications

Eligible candidates should submit a current curriculum vitae, three letters of reference, and a cover letter to the following address or via email to the fellowship coordinator, Linda Krencik at PathologyFellowship@UHhospitals.org.

Shashirekha Shetty, PhD
c/o Linda Krencik
Department of Pathology
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
11100 Euclid Ave
Cleveland, OH 44106
Phone: 216-286-8278
Fax: 216-201-5354