Fellowships & Training
About Our Fellowship Program
The Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition offers postdoctoral fellowships every academic cycle. Applicants are accepted from the fields of Nutrition, Exercise Physiology, Public Health, Psychology, Physiology or related fields to work with our multidisciplinary team. The two-year positions have a strong focus on research, with hours toward licensure available after specific negotiation.
All applicants must have completed all requirements for their doctoral degree prior to beginning the fellowship and must have a primary mentor for the duration of their fellowship; secondary mentors can be added as is appropriate. Positions typically start each fall, but other options can be negotiated. All fellows will be expected to submit an NIH F32 or similar grant, and to take advantage of the excellent training opportunities available across our key academic institutions. Our Fellowship Director is Dr. Amanda Bruce
and our Associate Fellowship Director is
Dr. Bethany Forseth – please reach out to either Dr. Bruce or Dr. Forseth for additional information.
Fellowship Announcements
The Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition is delighted to announce it’s funding of two 2022 CHLN Diversity Supplement Awards. These awards are based upon the belief that supporting the early careers of diverse candidates will strengthen research the research programs of the center and ultimately enhance the quality and impact of research focused on children’s healthy lifestyles. To this end we released a call for applications for supplemental dollars to support the effort of graduate level trainees and/or postdoctoral fellows from diverse backgrounds (per the NIH definition). These dollars were meant for salary, or for any other research or training expense that would support the career trajectory of the scientist. Supplements were awarded based on the strength of the candidate, the strength of the mentor or mentorship team to foster the career development of the mentee, and the quality of the proposed project and training experience.
Current Fellows
Training Opportunities & Support
The University of Kansas Medical Center
Our center is part of the vibrant research community at the University of Kansas Medical Center. KUMC is one of 36 U.S. public institutions in the prestigious Association of American Universities, an invitation-only organization for the nation’s top research universities. In addition, KU is one of 26 U.S. universities that have a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, a National Institute on Aging-designated Alzheimer’s disease center and a National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Award. Our center fellows and trainees have full access to the many trainings at KUMC in the schools of Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health, as well as at the main campus in Lawrence. The CTSA at KUMC is called Frontiers and brings especially rich training resources to our fellows, as well as the TL1 grant funding program and the KL2 career development award funding program.
Children's Mercy Kansas City
Our center is also part of the vibrant research community at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, including the state of the art Children’s Mercy Research Institute. The Children’s Mercy Research Institute (CMRI) integrates research and clinical care with multidisciplinary teams at the point of care while bringing together nationally recognized expertise in genomic medicine, precision therapeutics, population health and health care innovation. As a result, we accelerate the development of groundbreaking individualized therapies and treatments that transform the potential of all children, one child at a time. The CMRI and Children’s Mercy have a strong commitment to research training evidenced by an ongoing grant writing club and trainings on topics such as qualitative research methods and clinical trials conduct.
Open Employment and Student Opportunities
Kansas City is located in the heart of America. It has small-town friendliness, with big-city dining, a variety of entertainment options, incredible jazz, professional sports, world-renowned museums, great shopping and more fountains than any city in the world, other than Rome. The city, a metropolitan area of more than 2 million people, has some of the best public school districts in the nation.
The Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition at the University of Kansas Medical Center and Children’s Mercy Kansas City prepares promising new scholars to conduct groundbreaking, interdisciplinary pediatric research related to all aspects of healthy lifestyles. Our predoctoral trainees and postdoctoral fellows benefit from CHLN noon seminars, institutional didactic workshops, personalized mentoring, and project-based research experience to launch their independent research careers. Our training program is tailored to meet each fellow’s unique career goals, stretching their previous training into new and exciting areas.
Each fellow (in partnership with their primary mentor and/or mentorship team) will develop an individualized training plan composed of coursework as well as paper and grant submission goals that will be overseen by a team of senior level scientists who will ensure that the postdoctoral fellow and their mentor have all the tools necessary to meet the goals described in the plan. Following this plan, the fellow is quickly immersed in training, working with their mentor and their team, and integrated into ongoing research throughout the center. Following these steps, the center prepares our fellows for positions as junior faculty in the health sciences at universities or children’s hospitals, as investigators in nonprofit research institutions, and staff members at the National Institutes of Health.
Upcoming - Fall Semester
Oct 16 Monday @ 8:00am – Work in progress
Oct 20th Noon – 1:30pm Postdoc Lunch at CHLN Seminar
Oct 25th 4-7pm SBM local meet up (open to anyone)
Tues Nov 7th @ Noon Diversity, equity, inclusion – CBPR; Writing a diversity statement;
Nov 17th Postdoc Lunch at Noon seminar
Tues Dec 5th @ Noon– Works in progress
Dec 15th Noon - 1:30pm Postdoc Lunch at Noon seminar
POSTDOC Seminars:
Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition
Postdoctoral Fellowship Seminar Series
Past:
April 17, 2023 @ CMH Use of AI in Academic Medicine
March 20, 2023 @ KUMC Fellow to Faculty Transition Carolyn Bates, Bill Black, Dana Bakula, Anna Wallisch
Feb 20, 2023 @ CMH Job settings: Univ/ Med center/Industry Dr. Janna Harris- Jackson Labs Dr. Christopher Cushing KU
Feb 17, 2023 @ Parlour Happy Hour
Jan 16, 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Day- Encouraged national Day of Service
Dec 19, 2022 @ Noon @ CMH: Training Grant Tips and Skills plus Q & A –Drs. John Thyfault and Becca Foright
Nov 21, 2022 @ Noon @ KUMC Canceled
Oct 17, 2022 @ CMH Discussion of works in progress and year goals
Sept 22, 2022 @ 1pm KUMC Orientation/Goals/Training grant opportunities- Dr. Ann Davis /Postdoc apprec week
July 25, 26, 27 Writing retreat @ CMH; Conference rooms booked, lunches provided. (No Aug mtg-writing retreat)
July 7 Thurs 5:00pm Social gathering- Dinner @ the Bruce home 8108 Overbrook Road 66206
June 8 Wed @ Noon Workshop: How to tell your research story in one minute
May 19th 4 o’clock Happy Hour at Emperial Brewing Co
May 4, 2023, KU Med How to Create a Great Job Talk (and Chalk talk) Drs. John Thyfault, Bill Black, Amanda Bruce
April 6, 2023, CMH Planning meeting//Work in progress from Dr. Amy Smith: Aims for her F32. Provided feedback.
March 1, 2023, Initial Postdoctoral Seminar Planning Meeting
May 15, 2023 @ KUMC Negotiation Strategies- Christie Befort, PhD and Alan Schurle, MD
June 2023 @ CMH Interviewing Strategies
July 2023 Writing Retreat for Manuscripts, Grants, and Job Applications
Aug 2023 @ KUMC Alternative sources of funding // Building collaborations //Negotiation skills.
September 2023 @ CMH Work in progress.
October 2023 Leadership skills for managing a team/laboratory
Sept 15th Noon – 1:30pm Postdoctoral fellows’ lunch at Noon seminar
Sept 21st 3:00-4:00pm CHLN & Resources- Dr. Ann Davis/ Intro & Goals & Needs for Year Ahead
Follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/@ks_spectr for videos to KUMC postdoc events (mock study sections & 2-day career workshop)
Our Building
The Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition is located on the first floor of the Donald Chisholm Building on the campus of Children’s Mercy Kansas City. The Center is a 14,000-square-foot facility designed to support clinical and bench research, individual clinical and group educational interventions, as well as offices for faculty and research staff.
The Center’s 800-square-foot demonstration kitchen features four prep stations, each with a GE Profile refrigerator and microwave. The kitchen contains four oven/stove/exhaust hood combinations and two dishwashers. The 500-square-foot wet lab features extensive countertop space, an exhaust hood and a -80 degree freezer. Testing rooms contain an indirect calorimeter, treadmill and DEXA. Clinical exam rooms and a waiting room are also available. The Center’s 2400-square-foot exercise facility features treadmills, stationary bicycles, elliptical trainers and weight machines, and has a large area for group physical activity. Locker rooms, showers and laundry facilities are also available. The Center provides conference room facilities for 10-50 attendees.
Please read our Center Use Guidelines. If you are interested in using space at the Center, please complete this
application. Once it’s submitted, it will be reviewed by the leadership team, and someone will respond within 10 business days.
