University of California, San Diego

Program Director	Associate Director
Robert L. Fitzgerald, PhD, DABCC	Raymond Suhandynata, PhD, DABCC
Professor of Pathology	Assistant Professor of Pathology and Pharmacy
rfitzgerald@health.ucsd.edu	rtsuhandynata@health.ucsd.edu
(858) 657-5733	(858) 657-6835

About the Program

The mission of the UCSD Clinical Chemistry fellowship is to develop the next generation of innovative leaders in laboratory medicine. This ComACC fellowship trains individuals with a PhD, MD, or MD/PhD degree to become competent laboratory directors in the fields of clinical chemistry and/or clinical toxicology. Trainees are expected to become certified by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry in chemistry or toxicological chemistry, and to compete for positions as director or associate directors of medical schools, hospital-based clinical chemistry laboratories, or industrial/pharmaceutical positions. This fellowship is for a minimum of two years.

UCSD’s program emphasizes a combination of training in classical clinical chemistry (e.g., blood gases, electrolytes, enzymes, proteins, endocrinology, therapeutic drug monitoring) and specialty areas (clinical toxicology and molecular diagnostics). Particular strengths of this program are formal courses in laboratory medicine taught with medical (School of Medicine Course # 216 Laboratory Medicine) and pharmacy students (School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry Course #216 Laboratory Medicine). The UC San Diego program also benefits from the Center for Advanced Laboratory Medicine (CALM), a 90,000 square foot facility that serves as a central reference laboratory for the UCSD Healthcare system. At the CALM, fellows will have access to automated chemistry, toxicology, mass spectrometry, hematology, serum protein electrophoresis and immunofixation, microbiology, flow cytometry, molecular diagnostics, cytogenetics, and information systems.

Program Requirements

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

1. Earned Doctor of Medicine degree or Doctor of Philosophy (or an equivalent doctoral degree) in the basic sciences; chemistry, biology, pharmacology, or toxicology from an accredited university or college.
2. Successfully completed enough chemistry courses to apply to the American Board of Clinical Chemistry, i.e., 24 semester-hours (or equivalent) in undergraduate and/or graduate level chemistry courses plus a minimum of 4 semester-hours (or equivalent) in biochemistry courses at the graduate level.

To Apply

Deadline for applications is September 1, for fellows applying for a start date of July/August the following year. Feel free to send the required materials prior to Sept 1. Formal interviews begin September 1 (We are glad to schedule a short informal zoom interviews with qualified applicants to provide more detail about the training opportunities at UCSD prior to the formal interview period). Offers will be extended on or after October 1. Candidates will be given a window of at least 2 weeks to consider the offer.

The application packet must include:

1. Letter of interest
2. Curriculum vitae

Submit the required materials to Dr. Fitzgerald.

Training Level

Postdoctoral Training Level
Number of positions available per year: 1 per year
Duration of program: 2 years
Approximate annual salary or stipend: UCSD Postdoctoral Salary Scale, Depends on Experience
Source of funding: Department Funding, Grants, Industry Support
Current number of trainees: 2
Number of past graduates: 11

Faculty

David Bailey, MD	Clinical Toxicology, Clinical Chemistry
David Herold, MD, PhD, DABCC	Clinical Applications of Mass Spectrometry
Robert Fitzgerald, PhD, DABCC	Mass Spectrometry, Cardiac Markers, Toxicology, Cannabis Effect on Driving
Michael Kelner, MD	Novel Anticancer Compounds based on Natural Products
Denise Malicki, MD, PhD	Pediatric Pathology
Ronald McLawhon, MD, PhD	Laboratory Management, Cardiac Biomarkers
Amadeo Pesce, PhD	Pain Management, Clinical Toxicology
Raymond Suhandynata, PhD, DABCC	Clinical Chemistry, Cannabinoid Analysis, Laboratory Management, Proteomics