Infectious Diseases Fellowship

Mark Hicar and Mary Kate Mannix.

Program director Mark Hicar, MD, PhD, with 2021 graduate Mary Kate Mannix, DO.

Our three-year fellowship program is accredited by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

We understand that you may be having difficulties in obtaining letters of recommendation, access to rotations to prepare for fellowship training, and ability to complete research projects. We will review all applicants in their entirety and take the various difficulties that the candidates face into consideration. We affirm our commitment to virtual interviews this season to all our applicants. This aligns with the consensus statement by the Training Programs Committee of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS).

You will become a member of the next generation of academic physicians who perform innovative research, provide outstanding patient care and train future leaders in the field. Our atmosphere of intellectual curiosity and discovery within our division provides faculty, fellows, students and staff the opportunities to maximize potential while aiding the health of children on a local, regional, national and global scale.

Curriculum

Our curriculum has been structured to allow flexibility in training to maximize your future success by providing resources, mentorship, research and educational opportunities to prepare you to be an academic clinician leader.

You will spend three years acquiring and enhancing the skills necessary to care for complex, critically ill children of all ages and sizes.

We expect that during your period of training, you will acquire knowledge and apply it with incremental responsibility:

  • Year 1: Understanding microbiology, antimicrobial use and its application to pediatric infectious diseases.
  • Year 2: Making progress toward independent practice.
  • Year 3: Competent to practice independently.

Our program will provide you with a guide to formatting individual learning plans per academic year. As part of this individualized learning plan, you will be trained in two main areas:

  1. Clinical training: General infectious diseases, infectious diseases in the immunocompromised host (cancer, transplantation, HIV, immunodeficiency), infectious diseases in critical patients (pediatric intensive care and neonatal intensive care). This includes elective rotations in expanded clinical, public health and sexually transmitted diseases, quality improvement with a focus on antibiotic stewardship/infection control, and global health.
  2. Research/Academic: You may choose to train in basic science/translational research or clinical/epidemiology research. By your third year of training, you will be expected to have submitted a K-level award application and will present their research at a regional, national or international meeting. You will learn how to present a scientific project in poster or oral format.

Education

Educational features of our training program include:

  • Orientation session for incoming fellows (July or when beginning if off-cycle)
  • Didactic infectious diseases conferences (weekly during the academic year)
  • Pediatric grand rounds (monthly during the academic year)
  • Pediatric ICU Morbidity, Mortality and Improvement (PICU MMI) Conference
  • Antimicrobial stewardship rounds (quarterly during the academic year)
  • Infection control conferences (quarterly during the academic year)
  • Pediatric Infectious Diseases clinical conference
  • Research conferences (quarterly during the academic year)
  • Infectious Diseases Journal Club (monthly during the academic year)

Research

You will learn to diagnose, manage and prevent infectious diseases in children through the following:

  • Basic science research: You will conduct research on molecular mechanisms of HIV immune response and acquire knowledge on molecular biology techniques, pathogenesis of infectious diseases (including a focus on cellular and humoral immunology), and the basic techniques necessary to study pathogens. We currently have a wide range of focused research projects with an emphasis on immune responses to HIV.
  • Clinical and translational research: You will participate in ongoing clinical research projects on gastroenterologic childhood infections which will acquire a knowledge of epidemiology, statistics and ethics of research on human subjects. You may be involved in intramural as well as national and international clinical projects. You will also learn how to present at regional, national and international meetings.

Click here to learn more about funding opportunities at UB.

Patient Care

You will receive direct training by our experienced faculty during inpatient and outpatient service consultations. You will familiarize yourself with phone communications with community physicians, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York State Department of Health after phone call consult requests.

Credentials

Our comprehensive fellowship training program in pediatric infectious diseases is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Please review our program requirements by the ACGME.

Live Comfortably

To Apply

The postdoctoral education prerequisite is three years of general pediatric residency training in an ACGME-certified program. You should apply through ERAS and enter the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Match. Pediatric Infectious Diseases is in the Pediatric Specialties Fall Match (PSFM) and matches in December. 

In your personal statement, please include the following:

  • brief description about yourself
  • your interest in infectious diseases
  • long-term plans and specific fellowship training goals

You must provide letters of recommendation from:

  • your chair of pediatrics
  • two other faculty members (preferably at least one from pediatric infectious diseases) with whom you have worked during the past two years

We select fellows with excellent residency performance records and goals consistent with those of our program.

Contact

1001 Main Street
5th Floor
Buffalo, NY 14203

Phone: (716) 323-0150
Fax: (716) 323-0296

Pediatric Infectious Disease

  • Program Director

    Hicar, Mark

    Mark Hicar, MD, PhD, FPIDS, FIDSA

    Associate Professor; Interim Chief, Pediatric Infectious Diseases; Program Director, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship

    UBMD Pediatrics Division of Infectious Diseases 1001 Main Street Buffalo, NY 14203

    Phone: (716) 323-0150; Fax: (716) 323-0296

    Email: markhica@buffalo.edu

  • Associate Program Director

    Yu, Karl O.

    Karl O. Yu, MD, PhD, FAAP

    Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases)

    UBMD Pediatrics 1001 Main Street, 5th floor Buffalo, NY 14203

    Phone: (716) 323-0150; Fax: (716) 323-0296

    Email: kyu10@buffalo.edu

  • Training Program Administrator

    Jordan Koper, MA

    Fellowship Program Coordinator

    UBMD Pediatrics

    1001 Main Street Buffalo, NY 14203

    Phone: (716) 323-0027; Fax: (716) 323-0292

    Email: jckoper@buffalo.edu

Our Current Fellows

Patrick Kenney.

Patrick Kenney, MD

Medical School: SUNY Upstate Medical University; Residency: University at Buffalo; Hometown: Depauville, NY

Mary Kate Mannix.

Ramesh Kordi, MD

Medical School: Mashhad University of Medical Sciences; Residency: Mashhad University of Medical Sciences; Hometown: Atlanta, GA

Gitanjali Rebello, MD.

Gitanjali Rebello, MD

Medical School: St. John's Medical College; Residency: St. John's Medical College; Hometown: Mangalore, India

ACGME Accredited

This program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).