Category: Trainee Newsletter

Dealing with difficult or unfair PIs involves clear communication, documentation, and selfadvocacy. Mentorship is often seen as unidirectional, but the mentee is also responsible.

Knowing you’re meeting expectations starts with defining your own goals and what independence means to you. Regular, open conversations with supervisors are key to measuring growth.

Balancing expertise and growth in a postdoc  I am a new postdoc who switched research focus from hypertension to urology, and I would be happy to provide some insight into this topic. As a recent PhD graduate, you are an expert in a specific research niche, under a broader umbrella topic. For example, during my thesis …

On September 10, 2025, the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Wisconsin – Madison hosted a one-day event for researchers and professionals working on health-related topics. The event provided a space to explore the evolving research landscape and offered practical tools to help participants navigate emerging challenges in the field. The …

Hello CAIRIBU community! For this issue of the CAIRIBU Trainee Newsletter, I’d like to take the opportunity to introduce a new and very welcomed member of the NIDDK Urology Program, Dr. William Stuart (Stu) Reynolds. Dr. Reynolds comes to the NIDDK with a wealth of clinical and research expertise. Here I’ve asked Dr. Reynolds to …

If there’s one thing I’ve come to appreciate over the course of my research career, it’s that success depends less on knowing all the answers and more on developing a core set of habits and skills—ones that help you frame better questions and build stronger teams to solve important problems. The four that have been …

First, hello to the CAIRIBU community! Dr. Kris Penniston asked me to provide a few words from the NIDDK for this inaugural issue of the Trainee Newsletter and periodically in future issues. I’ll try to cover broad topics of relevance to you, including updates on research and training/career development opportunities, NIH grant preparation and review, summaries …

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) offers a series of “fellowship” awards. These awards are part of the NIH National Research Service Award program. F-series awards are specifically designed to support training and career development. Many CAIRIBU Community investigators have benefited from various F grants over time. Grant opportunities within the F-series are announced in …

As a postdoctoral fellow, I am in the in-between stage where I am working toward independence but still working for another lab. It seems like there are a lot of obstacles at this stage because it is hard to access time and monetary support to get preliminary data for your own ideas and independent career, …

Working across disciplines helps us get a deeper understanding of urologic conditions and develop better health solutions. However, most researchers aren’t trained to step outside their own field, and the training that is available frequently targets principal investigators (PIs). Thus, a lot of trainees wonder how they can help their teams work better together. Below, …