Mithal Named Director of MSCI Program
The Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute has named Leena B. Mithal, MD, MSCI, associate professor of Pediatrics, director of the Master of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI) program
“I am very excited and honored to be taking on the role of director of graduate studies for the MSCI program,” says Mithal, who is an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, where she is also program director for the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Fellowship program. “I’ve enjoyed working with Ravi Kalhan and Adam White these past two years as co-director and that experience will help me lead curricular improvements, launch our MSCI Symposia, and help build our future clinical and translational research workforce.”
The MSCI program is a renowned part of The Graduate School at Northwestern, and numerous high-achieving clinical-investigators are listed as alumni. The objective of the part-time class structure is to produce clinical scientists who are skilled in clinical research techniques, competitive in seeking research support, and knowledgeable about the complex issues associated with conducting sound clinical research, particularly in translational and clinical epidemiologic patient-oriented studies.
I’ve enjoyed working with Ravi Kalhan and Adam White these past two years as co-director and that experience will help me lead curricular improvements, launch our MSCI Symposia, and help build our future clinical and translational research workforce.”
For more than 20 years, the MSCI program has been a core part of the NUCATS Institute.
Mithal is a pediatric infectious diseases specialist with a research interest — and clinical expertise — in neonatal and congenital infections. She is passionate about understanding microbial exposures during pregnancy, perinatally, and in the first months of life and how the interaction of microbes (viruses, bacteria) and the developing immune system shape an infant’s health trajectory.
Mithal graduated from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, then completed her residency at Baylor College of Medicine before returning to Northwestern for her pediatric infectious diseases fellowship. She remained as faculty at Northwestern post-fellowship, earning her MSCI degree in 2016.
“I’ve been an avid participant in NUCATS programming and have taken part in early career seminars and grant writing workshops,” says Mithal. “My administrative role with the MSCI program opened my eyes to the incredible impact we can have on the burgeoning research careers of our students.”
The MSCI Program is part of the NUCATS Institute, which is supported in part by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (grant number UM1TR005121).
Written by Roger Anderson
