Trainees

All trainees participate in our weekly Journal Club, which meets at noon every Friday during the academic year and includes an ethics discussion led by the trainees each semester (twice/year). We also incorporate scientific literacy training. A member of the IPN Advisory Board serves on the Thesis Committee of all predoctoral TPNH trainees.  We offer brief but meaningful “clinical experiences” through which basic neuroscientists can appreciate the patient experience of HAND and other neuroimmune diseases. These are semi-annual experiences that include in-person meetings with neurologists at NIH/NINDS, Bethesda, MD, and Georgetown University-MedStar, Washington, DC (Spring), and presentations with infectious disease specialists (Fall) either at Georgetown University-MedStar HIV/AIDS clinic (Seble Kassaye, MD) or at DC-CFAR (Alan Greenberg, MD).  Students are enthusiastic about these experiences, which enhance their training in the clinical aspects of neuroHIV.  In addition, these clinical experiences are followed by dinner meetings, where trainees can further discuss several aspects of their training with faculty and clinicians.  All trainees attended a semiannual T32 Progress Meeting with Drs. Italo Mocchetti and Marta Catalfamo.

Some training meetings focus on developing grant and manuscript writing skills, professional development for career opportunities, and communication skills.  For example, we give students an opportunity to learn how to discuss their work, skills, and accomplishments in ~120 seconds. These “Elevator Pitch” sessions are organized so the trainees rotate among faculty to pitch their science.  Each faculty member then provides real-time feedback to the student. We have extended this to include data blitz training where trainees can use up to 4 slides and 4 minutes to describe their projects.

As part of their professional development, trainees participate in a “Host a Scientist” event where the TPNH trainees invite, plan, and host a visiting seminar speaker.  Trainees will continue to invite and interact with seminar speakers. This experience builds professional development skills as they work together to plan the event, prepare the agenda, introduce the speaker, and escort the speaker throughout the day. They host the speaker for lunch and a journal club, where they can discuss their own work and talk more deeply with the speaker about science and careers. Moreover, we invite former students to come back to GU to give a seminar and meet with trainees to discuss their career journey.