Fellows benefit from a multi-level primary research mentorship team within Complex Family Planning. Dr. Neena Qasba, Associate Program Director, will lead the research mentorship team. She will be assisted by Dr. Shayna Cunningham, PhD, from the Department of Public Health Sciences, who has extensive research experience in the field of sexual and reproductive health, in addition to the other Complex Family Planning Fellowship faculty.

Fellows will complete their research project by May of their second year and will present their findings to the fellowship community. Fellows will complete a manuscript  and submit it to publication prior to graduation.

Both sites (UConn Health and Hartford Hospital) have extensive research infrastructure in place to support fellow research. Research expertise is available in all methodologies through the collaboration of various departments and institutions within the program.  Our faculty provide mentorship through all stages of research – from study design and IRB application to data collection, statistical analysis and dissemination of findings. Statistical support is available for fellows through university-based resources. The UConn Department of OBGYN will provide administrative staff and infrastructure (research manager) to support investigators with study coordination, regulatory/IRB protocol submission, and screening/enrolling patients. For projects occurring at Hartford Hospital, fellows are supported by the clinical research assistant available at Women’s Ambulatory Health Services as well as support through the Research Administration.

Additionally, we incorporate a research curriculum into the fellow curriculum to complement the training obtained during the Master of Public Health. Fellows are required to complete the Master of Public Health program at the University of Connecticut unless they have completed an equivalent degree. The fellowship covers the tuition for each fellow completing the program. This educational program provides a robust training in public health research to support the fellow's academic progress during training.

Each fellow has dedicated academic office space with a personal computer loaded with Microsoft Office and access to university-based resources for bibliographic and statistical software.

For those fellows interested in basic science research, UConn Health has an affiliation with Jackson Labs which hosts extensive laboratory space and equipment.