Fellowship Details & Requirements

Our GME Office has preliminary eligibility requirements that all prospective trainees must meet before applying for a training program at our institution. In addition to these criteria, our program also the following requirements:

We invite applications from ABMS board eligible individuals from Anatomic/Clinical pathology (AP/CP), Clinical Pathology (CP), Hematopathology, Anesthesiology, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Colon and Rectal Surgery, Neurological Surgery and Thoracic Surgery.

Applicants must also submit required materials, including a current curriculum vitae, a personal statement, three letters of recommendation (one letter being from the director of the residency program), and a recent photograph.

The fellowship aligns its goals and objectives with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies to ensure comprehensive training of fellows in the field of Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine. Our program includes components in clinical experiences, including direct patient care, diagnosis, and ongoing patient care and consultation. Didactic sessions include but are not limited to one-on-one case discussions, PowerPoint presentations, quiz format cases, journal clubs. An increased fund of knowledge and increase confidence will be progressively built by exposure of the fellow to clinical cases, consultations and topic reviews. Increased responsibility during calls will be acquired gradually, and the fellow will be more independent as time goes on. Continued observation by the program director and discussion of advancement with the fellow should reflect the increase medical judgment and independence. 

The Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine Fellowship Program at MD Anderson is accredited by the Accredited Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). There are two new fellow positions per year. The curriculum includes 12 months of various rotations and areas of research. The fellow will be exposed to all requirements and demands on a modern transfusion service serving a large bone marrow and blood stem cell transplant service. The training includes a rotation at a large community hospital to provide sufficient exposure to general problems in immunohematology.

Fellows gain experiences on:

• Collection of platelets, leukocytes and peripheral stem cells
• Management of a functioning transfusion service
• Donor recruitment and collection
• Therapeutic phlebotomy and therapeutic apheresis
• Appropriate testing of blood and blood products

Research Oppurtunites and Training

During the one-year fellowship at MD Anderson trainees will have ample opportunities to prepare scientific publications, present lectures and seminars, participate in research and development of protocols, and participate in the teaching of medical technology students, SBBs and residents of other institutions during the rotation. Fellows are encouraged to submit their research at national meetings such as AABB.

Clinical Training

The fellow will be exposed to all requirements and demands on a modern transfusion service serving a large bone marrow and blood stem cell transplant service. The training includes a rotation at a large community hospital to provide sufficient exposure to general immunohematology problems. Rotations at MD Anderson include transfusion service, stem cell transplantation, Hemovigilance (HVU) , human leukocyte antigen (HLA), Donor Operations and Apheresis.

Didactics

There is dedicated, protected, didactic time. Lectures on various topics are given by faculty members in the Department of Laboratory Medicine.

Career Development

Fellows are offered the opportunity to participate and present in regional and national conferences.

Scheduling Expectations

Our program adheres to the ACGME requirements for trainee working hours and takes these requirements seriously.  

Faculty Publications

Trend towards reduction of transfusion reactions using prestorage leukocyte-reduced and pooled whole blood-derived platelets and cost savings compared with poststorage whole blood-derived random platelets as evidenced by real-time hemovigilance

Publication: Laboratory Medicine
Authors: Nick Park, Mayrin Correa Medina, Fernando Martinez, Marla Throssel, Amitava Dasgupta, Adriana Knopfelmacher, Colleen Villamin, Sandra Rivas, Nancy Tomczak, Saahith Garg, Lorraine Layton, Kimberly Klein

Technical Note: Use of a Novel Bacterial Culture Sampling Device for Pooled Whole Blood Platelets

Publication: Annals of Clinical & Laboratory Science
Authors: Fernando Martinez, Estella Castillo, Gary Griffin, Suzanne Chapman, Monisha Dey, Ashok Tholpady, James Kelley, Kimberly Klein, Amitava Dasgupta, Mayrin Correa-Medina, Benjamin Lichtiger

Digitally enabled hemovigilance allows real time response to transfusion reactions

Publication: Transfusion
Authors: Colleen Villamin, Tonita Bates, Benjamin Mescher, Sandy Benitez, Fernando Martinez, Adriana Knopfelmacher, Mayrin Correa Medina , Kimberly Klein, Amitava Dasgupta, David A Jaffray, Carol Porter, Welela Tereffe , Luisa Gallardo, James Kelley

Oncology Patients Who Develop Transfusion-Associated Circulatory Overload: An Observational Study

Publication: Laboratory Medicine
Authors: Marisol Maldonado, Colleen E Villamin, Leah E Murphy, Amitava Dasgupta, Roland L Bassett, Mayrin Correa Medina, Tonita S Bates, Fernando Martinez, Adriana M Knopfelmacher Couchonal, Kimberly Klein, James M Kelley

Generation of glucocorticoid-resistant SARS-CoV-2 T cells for adoptive cell therapy

Publication: Cell Reports
Authors: Rafet Basar, Nadima Uprety, Emily Ensley, May Daher, Kimberly Klein, Fernando Martinez, Fleur Aung, Mayra Shanley, Bingqian Hu, Elif Gokdemir, Ana Karen Nunez Cortes, Mayela Mendt , Francia Reyes Silva, Sunil Acharya, Tamara Laskowski, Luis Muniz-Feliciano, Pinaki P Banerjee, Ye Li, Sufang Li, Luciana Melo Garcia, Paul Lin, Hila Shaim, Sean G Yates, David Marin, Indreshpal Kaur, Sheetal Rao, Duncan Mak, Angelique Lin, Qi Miao, Jinzhuang Dou, Ken Chen, Richard E Champlin, Elizabeth J Shpall, Katayoun Rezvani

High Levels of Common Cold Coronavirus Antibodies in Convalescent Plasma Are Associated With Improved Survival in COVID-19 Patients

Publication: Frontiers in Immunology
Authors: Uri Greenbaum, Kimberly Klein, Fernando Martinez, Juhee Song, Peter F Thall, Jeremy L Ramdial, Cristina Knape, Fleur M Aung, Jamie Scroggins, Adriana Knopfelmacher, Victor Mulanovich, Jovan Borjan, Javier Adachi, Mayoora Muthu, Cerena Leung, Mayrin Correa Medina, Richard Champlin, Amanda Olson, Amin Alousi, Katayoun Rezvani, Elizabeth J Shpall

Migratory Pulmonary Infiltrates in a Patient With COVID-19 Infection and the Role of Corticosteroids

Publication: Mayo Clinic Proceedings
Authors: Teny M John, Alexandre E Malek, Victor E Mulanovich, Javier A Adachi, Issam I Raad, Alexis Ruth Hamilton, Elizabeth J Shpall, Katayoun Rezvani, Samuel L Aitken, Nitin Jain, Kimberly Klein, Fernando Martinez, Ceena N Jacob, Sujith V Cherian, Joanna Grace M Manzano, Mayoora Muthu, Robert Wegner

Fellow Publications

Faysal Fedda, M.D. (Fellow 2018-2019)

CDH1 Gene and Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer Syndrome: Molecular and Histological Alterations and Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment

Publication: Frontiers in Pharmacology
Authors: Wenyi Luo, Faysal Fedda, Patrick Lynch, Dongfeng Tan

Angiotropism in recurrent cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma: Implications for regional tumor recurrence and extravascular migratory spread

Publication: Journal of Cutaneous Pathology
Authors: Faysal Fedda, Michael R Migden, Jonathan L Curry, Carlos A Torres-Cabala, Michael T Tetzlaff, Phyu P Aung, Victor G Prieto, Doina Ivan, Jeffrey N Myers, Priyadharsini Nagarajan 

Mayrin Medina Correa, M.D. (Fellow 2019-2020)

Identification of glomerular and podocyte-specific genes and pathways activated by sera of patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis

Publication: PLOS ONE
Authors: Lilian Otalora, Efren Chavez, Daniel Watford, Lissett Tueros, Mayrin Correa, Viji Nair, Philip Ruiz, Patricia Wahl, Sean Eddy, Sebastian Martini, Matthias Kretzler, George W Burke, Alessia Fornoni, Sandra Merscher 

Sang Park, M.D. (Fellow 2021-2022)

Real-time Hemovigilance Prompts Paradigm Shift Towards Selection of Acrodose Platelets submitted/presented to the Association for the Advacement of Blood & Biotherapies

Roman Gonta, M.D., and Brian Engel, M.D. (Fellow 2022-2023)

Factors Influencing White Blood Cell (WBC) Mobilization in Healthy Granulocyte Donors

Publication: Transfusion
Authors: R. Gonta, J. Schenkel, B. Engel, K. Klein, F. Martinez, A. Knopfelmacher Couchonal, F. Aung, M. Correa Medina 

Steven Ayers, M.D. (Fellow 2023-2024)

Improving Donor Hemovigilance presented to Transfusion Medicine Staff Meeting

Our trainees have the opportunity to work alongside leading cancer experts at MD Anderson and institutions across the Texas Medical Center. Additionally, our trainees receive exceptional support from the fellowship leadership team: 

In addition to gaining unparalleled education and training experience, MD Anderson trainees have access to exceptional resources and benefits to help them build meaningful careers and lead fulfilling lives.

Institutional benefits and support

GME trainees’ salary stipends are updated every year based on the ACGME’s recommendations, and because our trainees are considered workforce members, they also enjoy MD Anderson’s employee benefits, including health insurance, retirement planning, disability insurance and six weeks of parental leave.

Our GME House Staff Senate offers trainees the opportunity to experience a leadership role in a medical field career, and the institution’s Academic Mentoring Council provides avenues to secure tailored academic mentoring from faculty. Our GME trainees benefit from the extensive support offered to our research trainees, too; they are invited to participate in grant application workshops, apply for pilot grants to support their research ideas and receive monetary awards for securing extramural grant funding.

Trainee wellness is also of utmost importance at MD Anderson.

Our trainees have access to MD Anderson’s employee networks, fitness center and other wellness resources provided by the institution. Additionally, our Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC), which provides oversight of our accredited programs, regularly assess our trainees’ needs and implements various initiatives, such as providing free call meals and discounted parking to GME House Staff, to address those gaps. The committee even has a subcommittee entirely dedicated to supporting the wellness of our trainees.

Our efforts to ensure a welcoming and supportive education and training experience have been commended nationally. In 2023, the Office of Graduate Medical Education received the DeWitt C. Baldwin, Jr. Award, a prestigious national award that recognizes our institution for its respectful and supportive environment for delivering medical education and patient care.

Beyond MD Anderson

MD Anderson’s location has many benefits, too. Our main campus is nestled inside the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical center which boasts about 10 million patient encounters each year. Many of our faculty are involved in interorganizational research collaborations, both within the TMC and across the nation, exposing trainees to groundbreaking advancements in medical care in real time.

Most importantly, the city of Houston is a great place to call home and raise a family. We are one of the most culturally diverse cities in the nation. More than 145 different languages are spoken across the city, placing us behind only New York and Los Angeles. In fact, about 30% of the city’s population speaks a language other than English at home. And, paychecks here stretch farther than most U.S. metro areas, thanks to our low cost of living.

Visit our Why Houston page to learn more about our city’s affordable housing, fine dining, entertainment scene, nationally renowned museums and other great attributes.