Each DCRI Research Fellow will be paired with a primary faculty research mentor who will be responsible for helping to develop a fellow's research portfolio, assisting with grant applications and securing funding, and tracking of career progress.

Mentorship is considered to be a privilege among the DCRI Faculty. The DCRI Fellowship Directors meet bi-annually with each fellow and their research mentor to track their progress and ensure each fellow is on track to accomplish their career objectives.

The mentor is expected to assist the fellow in developing a broad range of experiences with different types of faculty, not just to have the fellow work in his or her own research projects.

Mentorship Subcommittee

• Matthew Roe, MD, MHS (Co-Director, DCRI Fellowship Program)
• Kristen O'Berry (Director, Faculty Finance and Administration)
• Karen Pieper, MS (Associate Director, Statistical Group for Manuscript Analysis & Faculty and Fellows Affairs)
• Penny Hodgson (Director, Communications)

Robert M. Califf Award for Outstanding Mentorship

Each fellow who spends time at the DCRI has a mentor whose responsibility it is to guide the fellow in all things – an introduction to the DCRI; academics, including when possible the Clinical Research Training Program, statistical principles, and manuscript writing; clinical research, often including hotline duty; career development; and clinical work with one or more faculty members when they see patients. Mentors are critical to the success of the fellows, and, beginning in 2007, mentor(s) will be honored each year with the Robert M. Califf Award for Outstanding Mentorship.

The Award is named for Dr. Rob Califf, director of the DTMI and former director of the DCRI, who mentored many of today’s senior faculty at the DCRI. He is described in the background for the Award as having "played an instrumental role in the development of a generation of clinical researchers through his personal commitment to mentorship and hands-on training."

Eligible mentors are required to meet certain criteria: be Category A, junior or mid-career faculty and be selected by the current fellows.

Previous awardees:

• 2006 Califf Mentor Award: Danny Benjamin, MD, MPH, PhD
• 2007 Califf Mentor Award: Matthew Roe, MD , MHS
• 2007 Best Teaching/Support Award: Karen Pieper, MS
• 2008 Califf Mentor Award: John Alexander, MD
• 2008 Best Teaching/Support Award: Kristen O'Berry