Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases Track

The Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases Fellowship Track provides advanced training in the prevention, diagnosis, and management of infections in immunocompromised children, including solid organ transplant recipients, hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients, pediatric oncology patients, children with primary immunodeficiencies, and those receiving immunomodulatory therapies.

Yale New Haven Children's Hospital is home to comprehensive pediatric heart, liver, and kidney transplant programs and Connecticut's only pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) Program, providing fellows with exposure to a diverse and medically complex patient population.

Core components include:

1. Clinical Experience

• Participate in the inpatient care of transplant recipients and other immunocompromised patients.
  
• Participate in dedicated Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases clinics embedded within the Solid Organ Transplant and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) clinics, providing longitudinal care before and after transplantation.
  
• Gain experience with pre-transplant infectious diseases evaluations, donor and recipient infectious risk assessment, post-transplant infectious complications, antimicrobial prophylaxis, immunization, and infection prevention counseling.

2. Multidisciplinary Collaboration

• Work closely with transplant surgery, hematology/oncology, pharmacy, microbiology, infection prevention, and Adult Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases specialists to provide comprehensive, evidence-based care.

3. Education

• Participate in multidisciplinary immunocompromised host infectious diseases case discussions and joint core didactic sessions with the Adult Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases team, covering topics such as opportunistic infections, invasive fungal infections, cytomegalovirus, antimicrobial stewardship, vaccination of immunocompromised hosts, and emerging infectious threats.

4. Research and Scholarship

• Receive mentorship in clinical or translational research focused on infections in immunocompromised children, with opportunities to pursue projects in immunocompromised host infectious diseases, antimicrobial stewardship, vaccinology, and implementation science.

By graduation, fellows completing this track will have gained experience in the multidisciplinary care of immunocompromised children and developed the clinical knowledge, collaborative skills, and scholarly foundation to care for this complex patient population and pursue careers with a focus on immunocompromised host infectious diseases.