Research

Meet Our Research Support Team

Carole McBride, PhD

Assistant Professor

Carole’s passion for reproductive health began in Kenya as a Peace Corps public health volunteer. That experience has led to a focus on improving health literacy, access, and health disparities. She leads statewide reproductive statistical monitoring and quality improvement efforts through the Perinatal Quality Collaborative, is the PI of the Alliance for Innovations in Maternal Health and additionally has an interest in how reproductive history influences disease progression in later life. Her work includes qualitative and quantitative methods. Carole loves any excuse to be outside, as well as reading, music, gardening, and cheering on her four favorite athletes (her kids) at all of their athletic events.

Ellie Diamond, MS

Research Navigator

Ellie has a masters in epidemiology and clinical research with a focus in reproductive epidemiology. She has supported research on a broad range of topics including stillbirth and stillbirth pathology utilization as well as female athlete health and well-being. Ellie loves to run in the woods with her dog, Atlas, sing along to Hamilton, and ride her bike on Vermont’s gravel roads.

Resident Research 4 Year Plan

Program Objectives

1. Residents will identify an area of scholarly interest and be provided mentorship and support for the pursuit of scholarship in the chosen area.
2. Resident will enhance their understanding and critical thinking skills in how to evaluate and interpret scientific research, quality improvement projects, and educational curricula.
3. Residents will gain hands-on experience and skills conducting research by actively participating in all stages of a project, from question development to manuscript write up.
4. Residents will demonstrate evidence of scholarly activity in the form of publication, presentation, curricular innovation, and/or quality improvement project.

Research team

• Carole McBride, PhD (Carole.McBride@med.uvm.edu)
• Claire Shultz, MD (Claire.Shultz@uvmhealth.org)
• Ellie Diamond, MS (Ellyse.diamond@med.uvm.edu)
• Jeff Peipert, MD, PhD (Jeffrey.peipert@uvmhealth.org)

Deliverables

• Designate a faculty research mentor (1st year)
• Complete a study plan (1st year)
• Give an oral presentation about your proposed research topic (1st year)
• Give an oral presentation of findings from your research project (3rd year)
• Prepare an abstract describing your research findings (3rd year)
• Prepare a manuscript describing your research findings (3rd & 4th year)

Timeline

First year

Planning your topic, identifying a mentor, creating study-plan

• June/July - Resident Research Orientation
  • Presentation by resident research leadership at orientation
  • Introduction to research requirements and deadlines, mentorship, and topics
• August – October – 15-minute beginning of year connect with Ellie
  • Ellie will reach out to schedule brief beginning of year meeting
• December 1 - Mentor and general topic identified
  • Respond to Ellie’s email about who your mentor will be and what your research topic will be.
    
    **If one or both are not yet determined, we will assist. You should reach out to us by November 1st if you need help identifying a mentor.
• March 2 – Submit mentor approved study plan to Ellie
  • The study plan should have already been through draft stages with your mentor and been approved by your mentor for submission.
  • At this point you should have also met with a statistician to talk through analysis plan
  • Reach out for support on your study plan WELL BEFORE this due date 
    
    **Study plan template will be shared with you, also available in S drive
• April 1 – Receive study-plan feedback from research team
  • If revisions are needed, please resubmit your study plan by May 1st by emailing it to Ellie
  • Complete CITI training if needed
• May-July – Summer research series, prepare to present study plan
  • You will give a 30-minute presentation about your proposed study and receive feedback from audience (faculty and staff)

Second Year

IRB submission, data collection, analysis

• July – September –CITI training completed by this point
• August – October – 15-minute beginning of year connect with Ellie
  • Ellie will reach out to schedule brief beginning of year meeting
• September 1 – IRB submission, necessary trainings complete
  • Your IRB should be submitted at this point, expect the review and revision process to take a few weeks at least
• September – February – Prepare data collection tools, establish access to data, begin collecting data.
  • During this time, you should be working on your project including conducting chart reviews, collecting data, and meeting with your mentor, statistician, and research team as needed
  • Sketch out your research tables
• February – December - collect data & conduct analyses
  • The time this takes will vary depending on the project type
  • This time frame will include finishing up data collection, making sure the statistician you are working with has all of your data, and likely meeting with the statistician as needed

Third Year

Study results and writing

• August – October – 15-minute beginning of year connect with Ellie
  • Ellie will reach out to schedule brief beginning of year meeting
• September – July:
  • Complete abstract
  • Plan the conferences that you will submit your abstract
  • Get abstract feedback from your mentor
  • Send abstract to research team for revisions
• June 1 – revised abstract due to research team.
  • This is a good time to start outlining your manuscript. This will require some coordination/brainstorming with your mentor. Start thinking about where you want to submit your paper.
• May – July – Present your research
  • You will give a 30 minute presentation about your study progress and next steps**presentation templates available to be shared with you, also saved in S drive

Fourth Year

Finalizing manuscript & submitting to journals

• July – September – 15-minute beginning of year connect with Ellie
  • Ellie will reach out to schedule brief beginning of year meeting
• October 1 – send drafted manuscript to Ellie
  • This can be a rough draft!
  • This will be reviewed by research team
  • Plan where you will submit your manuscript
• Jan 1 – Receive manuscript feedback from research team
• March – Completed manuscript

Additional Considerations

1. Selecting a Mentor:
   1. Should be a faculty member. You cannot have a fellow as your primary mentor, but a fellow can be a secondary mentor. We are happy to provide suggestions for mentors based on area of interest.
   2. Your mentor should be able to help you come up with a research question, it is not all on you to develop an idea.
   3. Make sure the mentor has research experience! If not, but has a good idea, you may need a secondary, more senior mentor.
2. Working with your mentor:
   1. Under-promise and over-deliver!
   2. Two-way street. Set deadlines that work for both of you.
   3. Do not give deliverables to them last minute, allow them time to review and provide thoughtful feedback.
3. Timely submissions: Please respect the timeline proposed. This means you need to account for busy clinical rotations. We are happy to receive proposals ahead of the deadlines too! If life and work are getting in the way of meeting a deadline, come talk to us, we are here to help.
4. National conferences: Please inform us of any acceptance to national meetings and clarify your role if accepted for poster or oral presentation.
5. Troubleshooting: We understand that projects may change and are always available to help. Don’t hesitate to reach out for any concerns!
6. We are here to help!!: Although we will be ensuring you meet deadlines, this is all for your benefit and we want to help provide a positive experience. Ideally having deadlines and a structure means LESS stress and LESS scrambling.

Research at Larner College of Medicine

The Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences conducts research for women's health, encompassing both clinical and basic science.

Learn more