Hematology/Oncology Fellowship

Read an important message from Dr. McAllister-Lucas.

The fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is designed to develop academic hematologists/oncologists. The first year of the fellowship is dedicated primarily to clinical training and proficiency but with exposure to clinical and laboratory research. The last two years are devoted to learning the skills of basic laboratory research or clinical investigation. In the third year, the fellow may serve as an “attending” on the clinical service for up to 6 weeks. Individual research project selection is based on the joint agreement of the fellow, the mentor and the program director. At the end of the three-year fellowship it is expected that the fellow will be equipped to pass all certifying exams required for sub-board certification and to pursue an academic career in pediatric hematology/oncology.

During the first year, the fellow will be clinically trained in pediatric hematology/oncology as well as clinical research design. The fellow will have rotations in Neuro-Oncology/Radiation Oncology, the Blood Bank/Coagulation Lab, Hematopathology and Cytogenetics, specialty clinics, inpatient hematology and oncology, and bone marrow transplantation. The fellows will have a half-day continuity clinic for the entire three years of fellowship. In addition, Children’s offers a hospital-wide clinical research course (project design, ethics, manuscript writing, and grantsmanship) for all pediatric subspecialty fellows. Although this first year is clinically focused, we ensure that our fellows begin the process of developing a research direction by inserting two "research weeks" which are times dedicated to identifying a mentor and project.

The second and third years of the fellowship will be devoted primarily to research. During this time, the fellow is expected to actively participate in the design, conduct, evaluation and preparation for publication of a clinical or laboratory research project. Satisfactory conclusion of the research training should be accompanied by the publication of one or more research articles in peer-reviewed journals, by the applicant’s presentation of his/her results at national or international meetings and by a measure of scientific independence as determined by the ability to formulate and conduct one’s own future research plan.

For fellows, who are interested in clinical research, the division provides support for those who wish to take advantage of ICRE (University of Pittsburgh Institute of Clinical Research Education) opportunities.  Fellows who are interested in basic research are encouraged to explore opportunities within our division and department, the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and within the University at large.

The fellowship educational curriculum includes a multitude of conferences for fellows to both learn from and participate in. Learn more about the didactics offered by clicking Fellowship Didactic Curriculum at the link to the left.

Meet our Current Fellows.

Meet the Hematology/Oncology Faculty.