Induction event 2017
The Wellcome-HRB ICAT Programme kicked off its first year with a welcome event at RCSI for the new ICAT fellows. The eight fellows come from a range of clinical specialities, including Psychiatry, Infectious Diseases, Endocrinology, Dermatology, Nephrology and Public Health Medicine.
The induction event included talks by leaders in Irish research including Prof. Louise Kenny from the INFANT Centre in Cork, Prof. Jose Bengoechea from the Centre for Experimental Medicine in Belfast and Prof. Orla Sheils from the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute. The ICAT team also led workshops in topics such as the development of research concepts and protocols and skills gap analysis.
At the core of the event was the opportunity for the ICAT fellows to meet each other, to meet the Executive team, and to introduce themselves and their research interests to the group. We were delighted to also welcome several academic track interns, as well as clinician scientists who shared their experiences at various stages of their careers.
ICAT organises several events throughout the year for the fellows, including the annual induction event, an annual scientific retreat and monthly meetings hosted by each participating academic institution across Ireland.
The ICAT programme
The fellows embark on year 1 of the programme in their institution of choice (TCD, NUIG, UCC, RCSI, UCD or QUB) and can use this year to investigate ICAT PhD supervisors selected for their research excellence, design and conduct a mini-project, and access a large curriculum of educational modules. ICAT fellows will spend 70% of their time in clinical training in year 1.
Following the development of their PhD proposals with their chosen supervisor, ICAT fellows will then register for a full-time PhD in their supervisor’s institution. ICAT fellows will benefit from continuing mentorship throughout the programme and while they complete their PhD and clinical training to CCST. The next call for applications to ICAT will open in September 2017. More information about the programme structure and how to apply can be found here.
Wellcome-HRB ICAT fellows 2017:
Pictured from left: Dr Kapil Sharma, Dr David Mongan, Dr Liam Townsend, Dr Delia Bogdanet, Dr Roísín Hambly, Dr Peter Barrett, Dr Conor Judge, Dr Sarah Cormican.