Trainees are expected to complete an informatics research project by the conclusion of their two year fellowship, and to submit a manuscript for publication based on that research. Projects are developed in stages, with the fall of the first year spent in defining the topic, performing the literature search and evidence synthesis. The winter term is spent on project design and defending the design; work generally commences in the spring of the first year, and lasts until spring of the following year.

The research is supervised by a mentor from the Executive Committee and, generally, an affiliated faculty member. The topic may be based on interests of the fellows on entering the program, or on interests developed during course work, practica, or discussion with Division faculty.

The goal in choosing the topic is to define a 10-year problem and a 2-year project. The problem should be one that the fellow can continue working on after completion of the fellowship and one in which the fellow can become a recognized expert. The design of the project can involve any phase of the informatics development cycle, from formulation, through design, implementation, and evaluation.

Fellows are expected to complete an informatics research project by the end of the two years, and to submit a manuscript for publication based on that research. The project is developed in stages over the two years, with the fall of the first year spent in defining the topic, performing the literature search and evidence synthesis. The winter is spent in designing and defending the design; work generally commences in the spring of the first year, and is completed by spring of the following year.

Each fellow is responsible for assembling their research committee, and its composition must be approved by the Program Director. While a member of the Executive Committee must be on the committee to supervise progress, that member does not have to be chair of the research committee. The research topic may be based on the interests of fellows on entering the program, or on interests developed during course work, practica, or discussion with Division faculty.

The goal in choosing the topic is to define a 10-year problem and a 2-year project. The problem should be one that the fellow can continue working on after completion of the fellowship and one in which the fellow can become a recognized expert. The design of the project can involve any phase of the informatics development cycle, from formulation, through design, implementation, and evaluation.

As with practicum, it is important that students follow the sequence of procedures outlined in the Registrarial section of this Handbook in order to generate the proper documentation for their research work. Please see the training requirements that are pre-requisite to the start of the research project described below.

Training Requirements for Human Subjects Research

Much of informatics research falls under human subjects research, whether those subjects are patients, users, or experts, whose review is sought in the course of completing a study. In keeping with School of Medicine requirements (http://irb.jhmi.edu/Guidelines/training.html), all fellows must complete the following courses before having their research design approved:

• Human Subjects Research (HSR)
• Conflict of Interest and Commitment (COI)
• HIPAA General Privacy Issues (HIPAA GPI)
• HIPAA Privacy Issues Relating to Research (HIPAA IRR)
• Course on Research Ethics (C.O.R.E)

Online segments are available at https://secure.lwservers.net/ The HIPAA components must be completed prior to matriculation.

*Anyone submitting an application to IRB must first complete additional compliance training, visit http://irb.jhmi.edu/Guidelines/training.html for details*