Skip to main content

National Institutes of Health

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

2018 Annual Report of the Division of Intramural Research

NICHD-NIDDK-NIDCR Inter-Institute Endocrine Training Program

  • Ranganath Muniyappa, MD, PhD, Director, Inter-Institute Endocrine Training Program; Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Obesity Branch, NIDDK
  • Michael T. Collins, MD, Director, Career Development and Research Oversight, NIDCR Senior Investigator, CSDB, NIDCR
  • Karel Pacak, MD, PhD, DSc, Head, Section on Medical Neuroendocrinology, NICHD
  • Constantine Stratakis, MD, D(med)Sci, Scientific Director and Head, Section on Endocrinology and Genetics, NICHD
  • Andrew Demidowich, MD, Staff Clinician
  • Katherine T. Arague, MD, Clinical Fellow
  • Iris Hartley, MD, Clinical Fellow
  • Crystal Kamilaris, MD, Clinical Fellow
  • Marissa Lightbourne, MD, Clinical Fellow
  • HongXiu Luo, MD, Clinical Fellow
  • Maziar Rahmani, MD, PhD, Clinical Fellow
  • Skand Shekar, MD, Clinical Fellow

The Inter-Institute Endocrinology Training Program (IETP) is a three-year training program that seeks to train internal-medicine physicians to become first-rate endocrinologists dedicated to investigative careers. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) participate in the program, with faculty from all three institutes.

Clinical and research training

Clinical training occurs largely in the first year. At any one time, fellows are responsible for five to ten patients on the inpatient service of the NIH. Under the supervision of the endocrine faculty, the trainee has complete responsibility for all aspects of a patient’s care. Fellows make daily rounds, discuss patients with the attending physicians, and participate in management decisions related to both patient care and clinical investigation. Although all patients are admitted under peer-reviewed research protocols, there are many other aspects of diagnosis and patient care that fall entirely under the discretion of the endocrine fellows.

Developing an independent career as a physician scientist is the primary focus during the second and third years of training; emphasis is placed on how to develop research questions and hypothesis-driven research protocols. To this end, the second and third year are spent primarily in the laboratory or conducting clinical research under the mentorship of a senior investigator in one of the several endocrinology branches of the NIH. During this research period, fellows continue to gain active clinical experience through bi-weekly continuity outpatient clinics (general endocrinology as well as diabetes clinics) and participation in clinical conferences. In addition, fellows on the endocrine service serve as consultants to other services within the Clinical Center, where patients are not selected with regard to endocrine problems. Thus, fellows gain experience with several common endocrine problems that may occur in any general medical ward. Clinical research activities include programs in all the areas of endocrine and metabolic disease. Study design, outcome measures, statistical analysis, and ethical and regulatory issues are stressed.

The IETP provides a comprehensive training experience that involves not only the NIH clinical branches working in endocrinology but also Georgetown University Hospital, Washington Hospital Center, and Walter Reed Medical Center. The basic and clinical endocrine research facilities at the NIH are among the most extensive and highly regarded in the world. Thus, the fellowship is ideal for physicians who seek a broad education in both research and clinical endocrinology.

Publications

  1. Sater ZA, Jha S, McGlotten R, Hartley I, EI Lakis M, Araque KA, Nieman LK. Diverticular perforation: a fatal complication to forestall in Cushing syndrome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2018;103(8):2811-2814.
  2. Araque KA, Kadayakkara DK, Gigauri N, Sheehan D, Majumdar S, Buller G, Flannery CA. Reducing severe hypoglycaemia in hospitalised patients with diabetes: early outcomes of standardised reporting and management. BMJ Open Qual 2018;7(2):e000120.
  3. Kamilaris CDC, Stratakis CA. An update on adrenal endocrinology: significant discoveries in the last 10 years and where the field is heading in the next decade. Hormones (Athens) 2018;17(4):479-490.
  4. Kamilaris CDC, Faucz FR, Voutetakis A, Stratakis CA. Carney complex. Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes 2018;Epub ahead of print.
  5. Motazedi B, Rahmani M, Welch JM, Motazedi A. First report of concomitant pheochromocytoma and duodenal neuroendocrine tumour in a sporadic multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. BMJ Case Rep 2018;bcr-2017-222947.

Faculty

  • Kenneth Berman, MD, Director, Endocrine Training Program, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC
  • Rebecca Brown, MD, Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Obesity Branch, NIDDK, Bethesda, MD
  • Alan H. DeCherney, MD, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Training Program, NICHD, Bethesda, MD
  • Rachel Gafni, MD, Craniofacial and Skeletal Diseases Branch, NIDCR, Bethesda, MD
  • Phillip Gorden, MD, Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Obesity Branch, NIDDK, Bethesda, MD
  • Nicholas Patronas, MD, Diagnostic Radiology, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD
  • James C. Reynolds, MD, Nuclear Medicine Department, NIH Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD
  • William F. Simonds, MD, Metabolic Diseases Branch, NIDDK, Bethesda, MD
  • Joseph Verbalis, MD, Director, Endocrine Training Program, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC
  • Lee S. Weinstein, MD, Metabolic Diseases Branch, NIDDK, Bethesda, MD

Contact

Adult Inter-Institute Endocrine Training Program (IETP)
NICHD, NIDDK, NIDCR, NIH
Bldg. 10, Rm 6-3940
10 Center Drive, MSC 1613
Bethesda, MD 20892-1613
Phone: 301-496-1913
Fax: 301-480-4517

Program Coordinator (NIDDK): Sandra Wallace, sandraw@mail.nih.gov
Program Director: Dr. Ranganath Muniyappa, muniyapr@niddk.nih.gov
Online Application: https://students-residents.aamc.org/training-residency-fellowship/applying-fellowships-eras/

Top of Page