720-777-0123
After completing a doctorate degree, it’s common for scientists to pursue a postdoctoral (postdoc) fellowship to bridge their deep educational experience with an opportunity to work in a professional capacity aligning with their academic aspirations. For many fellowships, this means working in a research lab and teaching classes at an academic institution. A new postdoctoral fellowship at Children’s Hospital Colorado aims to rethink the traditional path and provide real-world clinical experience and collaboration within the realm of pediatric orthopedics.
This brand-new fellowship is the brainchild of two Children’s Colorado experts in the Orthopedics Institute: David Howell, PhD, Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Research, and Klane White, MD, Professor of Orthopedics and Director of the Orthopedics Institute.
The goals of the program are to provide exceptional mentorship that supports scientists who have recently received their PhD to identify and establish their own expertise, and for participants to then pursue their own independent line of research with a strong clinical connection that sets them apart from other postdocs. Unlike many other programs that are geared toward a more conventional model, Dr. Howell and Dr. White want to foster a program that focuses on growth and collaboration within the clinical space that postdoc fellows can take into their future positions.
“We have a commitment to building the next generation, and that makes our program a unique opportunity for PhD researchers interested in clinical research,” says Dr. Howell.
The program currently boasts two postdoctoral fellows, Catherine Donahue, PhD, ATC, and Kellen Krajewski, PhD, CSCS, who have both started their own pilot projects and used data to write novel papers.
Dr. Donahue graduated with her PhD from the University of Virginia and brings over 12 years of experience to the program from both a research and clinical setting. As a certified athletic trainer, Dr. Donahue worked in many settings including athletics, military and performing arts. As a postdoc research fellow, she’s researching the role of sleep and sleep-related factors in sports concussions.
Dr. Krajewski completed his PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in Rehabilitation Sciences with an emphasis in biomechanics and motor control. Before joining Children’s Colorado’s postdoc fellowship, Dr. Krajewski finished a postdoc in neurophysiology of reflex excitability in stroke survivors at MetroHealth Hospital, Case Western Reserve University. In his role at Children’s Colorado, Dr. Krajewski focuses on a multi-dimensional approach to examine functional movement outcomes after orthopedic interventions that can inform rehabilitative strategies. Dr. Krajewski’s research aims to separate the role of spasticity and dynamic physical activity in tibial bone microarchitecture of children with cerebral palsy.
In the future, Dr. Howell and Dr. White see this type of postdoc fellowship as an opportunity for aspiring scientists to pursue a multifaceted experience, while also deepening their applied knowledge of conducting clinical research studies in pediatric orthopedics and sports medicine.
“Our hope is to create a pathway for clinically-oriented scientists to develop an interest and expertise in pediatric orthopedic conditions,” says Dr. White. “This fellowship will deliver a unique person to the world of academic pediatric orthopedics, one whose skills will be finely honed to pursue and generate knowledge growth in a way that is rare in the world today.”
