Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Program Director	Program Associate Director
Shelby Hutcherson, PhD, DABCC	Lauren McVoy, MD, PhD, ABP (CP), DABMM
Assistant Attending Clinical Chemist, Clinical Chemistry Laboratory	Vice Chair of Clinical Integration, Department of Laboratory Medicine
hutches@mskcc.org	mcvoyl@mskcc.org
(646) 608-1109	(646) 608-1109

About the Program

The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) is a world leader in cancer diagnosis and treatment. The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine provides clinical laboratory testing for all patients seen at MSKCC, and includes clinical chemistry, hematology, microbiology, point-of-care, cell therapy, flow cytometry, cellular immunology, and transfusion medicine.

Laboratory Medicine at MSKCC is headquartered at the Center for Laboratory Medicine (CLM), a brand new state of the art facility in Manhattan constructed in 2017. Much of the specialized clinical laboratory testing is performed at CLM. In addition, MSKCC maintains multiple clinical laboratories in outpatient sites throughout Manhattan, New Jersey, Westchester County, and Long Island.

The Clinical Chemistry service performs testing in all areas including routine chemistry, critical care testing, cardiac markers, tumor markers, toxicology screening, protein immunology, immunochemistry, mass spectrometry, and point of care testing.

The goal of the two year Clinical Chemistry Fellowship Program is to prepare trainees to function as the director of a high complexity clinical laboratory. Fellows are expected to take the qualifying examinations administered by the ABCC prior to completion of their fellowship.

The curriculum consists of two phases. Phase 1 consists of a 9 month series of 1-3 week rotations through clinical chemistry laboratories at MSKCC. Fellows may also be assigned short term development or quality projects during this time. Formal instruction in certain topics will be provided via lectures and didactic sessions. In Phase 2, fellows complete translational research projects. Fellows assume increasing responsibility in the laboratories where emphasis will be on projects as well as answering calls from the medical staff. Fellows will also serve as acting laboratory directors during their second year and assume responsibility for laboratory and patient issues under faculty supervision.

Most training will occur at the MSK Center for Laboratory Medicine building. This building houses state of the art automation as well as a wide variety of clinical laboratory analyzers. The clinical chemistry service participates in the development and validation of many laboratory developed tests (LDT’s) that are unavailable in most hospital laboratories. The department also provides fellows the opportunity to participate in evaluations of cutting edge in vitro diagnostic devices, and also has extensive collaboration with the clinical departments at MSKCC to validate biomarkers for potential clinical use.

Program Requirements

To be considered for the program, prospective fellows must have:

1. earned either an MD/DO or PhD (or equivalent) from an accredited university.
2. successfully completed 30 semester hours (or equivalent) in undergraduate and/or graduate level chemistry or biochemistry at an accredited institution.
3. gained exposure to a clinical laboratory and strongly encouraged to have taken courses in human anatomy, physiology, and/or pathophysiology prior to application.

Physician candidates (MD/DO/MBBS etc) are expected to have a valid unrestricted US medical license, and to have completed or in the process of completing an AP/CP or CP residency.

To Apply

Deadline for applications is September 1, for fellows applying for a start date of July the following year. Formal interviews begin after September 1. Offers are extended on or after October 1. Candidates are given a window of at least two weeks to consider the offer.

The application packet must include:

1. Personal Statement; describing their interest in clinical chemistry, qualifications, and future goals
2. Curriculum vitae

Applications without a personal statement will not be accepted. All applications should be sent via e-mail to labchemfellowship@mskcc.org. Applicants are requested NOT to send transcripts or letters of recommendation until specifically requested. Fellowships at MSKCC have a start date of July.

Training Level

Postdoctoral Training Level
Number of positions available per year: 1 every other year
Duration of program: 2 years
Approximate annual salary or stipend: Clinical PGY Scale
Source of funding: Hospital GME
Current number of trainees: 1
Number of past graduates: 6

Faculty

Amanda Blouin, MD, PhD	HLA, Immunogenetics
Melvili Cintron, PhD, DABMM	Clinical Microbiology, Serology
Maly Fenelus, MD, MPH	Hematology, Coagulation
Adrianna Herskovits, MD PhD	Esoteric Testing, Mass Spectrometry, Tumor Markers, Toxicology
Shelby Hutcherson, PhD	Clinical Chemistry, Protein Immunology
Samuel McCash, MD	Clinical Laboratory Informatics
Lauren McVoy, MD, PhD	Clinical Microbiology, Hematology, Coagulation
Evangelos Ntrivalas, MD, PhD	Cellular Immunology
Lakshmi Ramanathan, PhD	Preanalytical Variation, Automation, Point-of-Care