StrokeNet Fellowship

The SPIRIT Regional Coordinating Center of NIH StrokeNet seeks a 2026-2027 fellow within its four academic centers (Hartford Healthcare, Northwell Health, Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University (Rhode Island Hospital), and Yale School of Medicine) or corresponding performance sites, who will be funded $50,000 (salary and fringe inclusive) with 50% dedicated research time for one year while he or she learns methods for clinical research and completes a clinical research project. The intent of the StrokeNet training program is to enhance the education and career development of future stroke clinical researchers. Applicants must have an interest in clinical research and commit to participating fully in the StrokeNet Fellowship program.

The SPIRIT fellow will work with a StrokeNet co-investigator faculty mentor coupled with mentorship from SPIRIT’s Education Core Director, Dr. Walter Kernan (Yale), based on a training plan developed after selection. During the Fellowship year (7/1/26-6/30/27), the trainee must: 1) attend (or participate asynchronously in all StrokeNet Grand Rounds, Professional Development Webinars, and Basic Science Journal Clubs; 2) participate in a Learning Community; 3) submit a project synopsis; 4) present their research in progress at a StrokeNet meeting or webinar; 5) spend at least 50% of their time on research and research training; and 6) complete all program-related surveys during and after the program. Candidates do not need to declare that they plan to seek further K funding or plan on a career that emphasizes research. However, they must be planning to stay in academia involved with stroke research throughout their career (e.g., enrolling patients into trials, writing).

Eligible candidates include residents, fellows, post-doctoral associates, nurses, and junior faculty, within the SPIRIT institutions from any discipline (not just limited to vascular neurology). This could include neurosurgeons, epidemiologists, physical therapists, basic scientists, and any others that have a significant interest in a career in stroke research.

1. A cover letter that explains your interest in the fellowship, your qualifications for a career in research related to stroke research, and states your commitment to participating fully in the NIH StrokeNet training program.
2. A commitment letter from a proposed research mentor indicating that the mentor accepts this role, has assisted you in developing your proposal, and will commit to provide the necessary supervision over the duration of the fellowship. The letter should provide evidence of the mentor’s qualifications, including prior experience as a mentor, research accomplishments, and current research funding. The letter should detail how the mentor plans to oversee the fellow’s progress and provide assurance that he or she can spend adequate time on this activity.
3. A letter of recommendation from your current program director, fellowship director, or departmental chair. The letter must comment on your recent professional performance, qualifications for a career in research, and explanation of the program or department’s support for the applications. This letter must also indicate that you will have 50% of your time available to devote to fellowship activities. It must include a commitment from the chair to provide funds to supplement the StrokeNet award so that the candidate has a total of 50% time for research.
4. A research proposal (1-2 pages, not including references):
   1. Title
   2. Background
   3. Research Aims
   4. Hypothesis(es)
   5. Methodology
   6. Expected Outcomes
   7. Potential challenges and contingency plans
   8. References.
5. A training plan.
6. An NIH Biosketch and separate curriculum vitae.

For instructions on preparing the proposal and training plan, contact Ruth Arnold.

• Applications due: October 1, 2025.
• Successful applicants notified: December 1, 2025.
• Fellowship starts July 1, 2026.

Shufan Huo, MD, PhD from Yale School of Medicine was selected as the 2025-2026 SPIRIT StrokeNet Fellow. Dr. Huo will dissect the polygenic (characteristics involving multiple genetic locations) mechanisms of action in cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) by integrating a multiomic framework (genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data) to reveal key molecular targets and pathways to advance drug repurposing and development. In particular, she is hoping to identify the key proteins mediating the polygenic risk of CSVD that can be used as novel druggable targets, with extension to lacunar stroke and vascular dementia, the most detrimental manifestations of CSVD. The 2025-2026 Fellowship will begin July 1, 2025.

2024-2025 SPIRIT StrokeNet Fellow - Brown

Liqi Shu, MD, from Rhode Island Hospital/Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, is the 2024-2025 SPIRIT NIH StrokeNet Fellow Dr. Shu’s overarching research interest is to apply computational methods and machine learning to understand and improve rehabilitation outcomes in neurological disorders. He has three projects on which he is working during the fellowship:

• Primary: Mapping Upper Extremity Kinematics to post-stroke MRI
• Second: Video-based Kinematics Analysis Framework
• Third: Peri-operatives stroke

2022-2023 Fellow: Teng Peng, MD - Yale

• Focus on evaluating patients’ cerebral autoregulation, the mechanism in which the brain maintains a constant cerebral blood flow despite changes in blood pressure, after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) to determine optimal blood pressure targets, and to access how deviating from personalized autoregulation-based blood pressure targets relates to radiographic and clinical outcomes.

2021-2022 Fellow: Rachel Forman, MD - Yale

• Focus on evaluating the characteristics of stroke patients who participate in home blood pressure monitoring, as well as on identifying testing barriers to help guide future interventions.

2020-2021 Fellow: Yan Hou, MD - Hartford Health

• Focus on ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in young adults aged 18-35.

2019-2020 Fellow: Jacqueline Geer, MD, Pulmonary Fellow - Yale

• Focus on determining whether OSA increases risk for ICH, severity, and race.

2018-2019 Fellow: Nils Petersen, MD, MSc - Yale

• Focus on the role of autoregulation-based therapies to optimize outcomes after stroke, especially around thrombectomy. Working on identifying patients who are vulnerable to blood pressure reductions during endovascular therapy via neuroimaging profile.

2018-2019 Fellow: Tracy Madsen, MD, ScM — Brown/Rhode Island

• Focus on using REGARDS and GCNKSS to investigate sex differences in stroke incidence and traditional risk factors, use of Women's Health Initiative (WHI) and Framingham Study to look at role of sex hormones in stroke risk in some men, and evaluation/management/outcomes of TIA in women and men.