A total of 18 months are devoted to research. This is protected time with the only consistent clinical obligations being weekend and evening call. Most of this time will be spent performing basic laboratory research. By the end of the first year of fellowship, the fellow will have selected an area of laboratory interest and identified a research project and basic science research mentor. This project should lead to a presentation at a national meeting, a major publication in a peer review journal, in addition to satisfying the Board's requirement for a thesis. The research activities will be carefully supervised by one of the basic science research faculty. Dr. Grow will supervise the fellow’s research training throughout the three year fellowship program.

The fellow will learn the art of asking appropriate research questions and develop skills in designing experimental studies. Data evaluation and interpretation of results will be supervised by a research mentor to maximize the educational experience and the quality of the fellow's work.

At the completion of the fellowship, the graduating fellow will defend his/her thesis with both the clinical and basic science REI faculty participating in this evaluation process.