Infectious Disease Research
All fellows are expected to participate in a research project during the two-year program. A variety of opportunities are available in both basic science and clinical investigation. Some areas of particular interest at Mount Sinai are viral pathogenesis, HIV therapeutics, HPV screening, barriers to care in HIV and HCV, hospital epidemiology of resistant nosocomial pathogens, molecular epidemiology, and the prevention and management of infections in transplant recipients.
Select fellows are offered a third year of fellowship (non-ACGME). This fellowship year has protected research time with a focus on developing skills needed to become a successfully funded independent researcher.
Starting in the winter of the first year, research lunches are held to introduce ongoing research opportunities to the fellows. Fellows will also each be assigned a faculty advisor who meets with the fellow to discuss career and research interests.
It is expected that the fellow will identify a research interest and mentor and initiate preliminary work (i.e. IRB approval) on the project during the first year. The primary focus of the second year is completing the research project under the supervision of the mentor. Fellows who are interested in pursuing additional years of research training should discuss this option with their mentor and program director during the first year.
Before the end of the second year of fellowship, fellows are expected to submit research abstracts to a major infectious diseases meeting as well as present their work at our divisional grand rounds and our departmental research day. Ultimately, the research performed during fellowship should result in a manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed journal.
Fellows interested in viral pathogenesis can pursue additional training in basic investigation through our NIH Training Grant in Viral Pathogenesis.
Fellows with an interest in clinical investigation can pursue a Master of Science in Clinical Research through the Clinical Research Training Program. Mount Sinai also has a Master of Public Health Program.
Research Opportunities
The Mount Sinai Health Care System provides fellows with a diverse array of research opportunities in basic science, translational and clinical research. In addition to opportunities within the Division of Infectious Diseases, our fellows have the chance to work on research collaborations with other Departments and Divisions, including Microbiology, Genomics, the Recanati Miller Transplant Institute, and Liver Medicine. The Infectious Disease Division has NIH funding for scientific research in viral pathogenesis and for research with the Clinical and Translational Research Center and the COVID Clinical Trials Unit. Additionally, the Center for Research on Influenza Pathogenesis is affiliated with our Division.
Our Researchers
Alejandra Borjabad, PhD
Dr. Borjabad studies the genetic and epigenetic signatures and other molecular changes that define different neuropathologies in HIV-infection. More recently her research expanded to investigate other HIV pathogenic mechanisms like the contribution of glycomic dysregulation to neuroinflammation, the effect of HIV in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease and the effects of drug abuse including opioids, cocaine and CBD in the context of HIV infection.
