NIH Hematology Oncology Fellowship

The mission of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Hematology Oncology Fellowship is to use the unique clinical and basic research resources of the NIH to advance the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of hematologic and oncologic diseases by developing and training the next generation of clinicians and physician scientists. 

Top 10 Reasons to Do A Hematology Oncology Fellowship at NIH

1. Unparalleled opportunity to collaborate with top scientists and clinicians in cutting-edge research across the scientific spectrum, including basic science, cancer prevention, drug development, and clinical trials.
2. Ability to participate as an investigator in more than 350 clinical trials at the world’s largest hospital dedicated to clinical research.
3. Integration of clinical rotations at top area hospitals, including Georgetown, George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland, to broaden fellows’ clinical training.
4. Outstanding compensation, including salary, the ability to moonlight, and paid relocation.
5. Public service loan forgiveness.
6. Formal partnerships with government regulatory agencies, including FDA and CTEP.
7. A laptop computer and cell phone are provided to every fellow for use during fellowship.
8. Paid travel for up to two national meetings per year in the second and subsequent fellowship years.
9. Numerous social and cultural amenities of life in the beautiful Washington, D.C. area.
10. A diverse training environment dedicated to the NIH mission to attract “the most brilliant and promising research fellows from the United States and abroad.”

The storied history of medical hematology and oncology fellows at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) dates back more than 80 years. The over 600 physician researchers who have worked and trained at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) include giants of the field. Over the years, our alumni have improved the lives of millions of cancer patients.

Attracting “the most brilliant and promising research fellows from the United States or abroad” was a stated aim of the 1937 act establishing the NCI. A year later, the first bright young physician-scientists intent on investigating and treating the nation’s growing incidence of cancer were appointed as fellows. The institute’s state-of-the-art laboratory opened in Bethesda, Md., the following year on a former estate that recently had been donated to the government to house the NIH.

Notable early fellows
After completing their fellowships, many of our alumni have stayed on and contributed to the NCI’s myriad accomplishments as well as those of the NHLBI. A notable early fellow was Henry Seymour Kaplan, M.D., who trained here in the early 1940s. He went on to Stanford University, where he co-developed the medical linear accelerator for cancer treatment. This led to one of the major treatment advances of the 20th century, extended field radiation treatment for Hodgkin’s disease.

The opening of the Clinical Center on the expanding NIH campus in 1953 facilitated the integration of laboratory and clinical research to improve patient care. A few years later, ground-breaking NCI physician researchers Gordon Zubrod, M.D., Emil “Tom” Frei III, M.D. and Emil J. Freireich, M.D. came to NCI. Their presence ushered in an era of progress towards eradicating cancer detailed in the widely acclaimed book, The Emperor of All Maladies by oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., D.Phil.

The 1960s saw the arrival of Vincent DeVita, M.D. (now the Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine at the Yale Cancer Center), who worked with Frei and Freireich during the fellowship he began in 1963. Dr. DeVita returned to NCI in 1966 as a senior investigator, and collaborated with another fellow, George Canellos, M.D. (now the William Rosenberg Professor of Medicine, Emeritus, at the Harvard Medical School) to develop MOPP, the first successful combination chemotherapy program. Used to treat Hodgkin's disease and diffuse large cell lymphomas, MOPP reduced the likelihood of dying from Hodgkin's disease from nearly 100% to around 30%.

Dr. DeVita established the basis for further combination therapies, which became a mainstay of cancer treatment. In 1980, he was appointed director of the NCI, a position he held until 1988. While at NCI, he served as one of the editors for the first edition of CANCER: Principles & Practices of Oncology. Now in its 11th edition, CANCER is the most widely-read text on cancer in the world. Collaborations between Drs. Canellos and DaVita also resulted the combination chemotherapy CMF, which remains a useful therapy for breast cancer.

Bruce Chabner, M.D. (now chief of hematology and oncology at the Massachusetts General Hospital) is another prominent cancer researcher who served as an NCI medical oncology fellow. He arrived in 1967 and stayed on at the NCI after completing his fellowship in 1969, where his research led to the development of Taxol, a commonly prescribed drug to treat  breast, ovary, lung and other cancers. In 1983, he became the director of the NCI’s division of Cancer Treatment.

A place where many leaders began their careers
“The NCI fellowship has afforded a unique combination of opportunities for excellent clinical training and translational research experience,” Chabner says. “Many of the leaders in translational research began their careers at the NCI and flourished in this outstanding environment.”

The NCI’s formal Medical Oncology Fellowship program officially began in 1982, while DeVita was the NCI director.  It was officially accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in 1991.

The NHLBI’s Hematology Fellowship Program began in 1991 under the leadership of Cynthia Dunbar, M.D., whose basic laboratory research on stem cells led to the first FDA-approved drug for treating aplastic anemia in more than 30 years. 

The Medical Oncology Fellowship and Hematology Fellowship programs officially joined together to create the NIH Hematology Oncology Fellowship Program in 2016. 

Former Directors of the NIH Hematology Oncology Fellowship Program
​2016-2018:  Charles Bolan, M.D. 

Former Directors of the Medical Oncology Fellowship Program
2015-2016:  James Gulley, M.D., Ph.D. (alumnus of the program)
2007-2015:  Antonio “Tito” Fojo, M.D., Ph.D. (alumnus of the program)
2001-2007:  Barry Gause, M.D. (alumnus of the program)
1995-2007:  Michael Hamilton, M.D.
1993-1995:  Carmen Allegra, M.D. (alumnus of the program)
1990-1993:  Robert Wittes, M.D.
1987-1990:  Charles Myers, M.D.
1982-1987:  Robert Young, M.D.

Former Directors of the Hematology Fellowship Program
1991-2008:  Cynthia Dunbar, M.D.
2008-2016:  Charles Bolan, M.D.

Physicians who have completed their residency in internal medicine can begin applying to the program yearly on July 1 via the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) webpage. Early application is encouraged for those wishing to be considered for the 4 to 5 Friday interview sessions generally held in September and October. 

If you have any questions about the fellowship program or application process, please email Kellyn Betts or George Lindsay.

NIH Hematology Oncology fellows can work with more than 100 laboratories and clinical research groups at the NIH, many led by principal investigators who have achieved international recognition. Our leadership and faculty include inspiring and award-winning instructors. 

Program Leadership

The program’s leadership in 2019-2020 includes Dr. Rahul Lakhotia, Kellyn Betts, Dr. Charles Bolan, Dr. Kathryn Lurain, Dr. Marijo Bilusic, Dr. Elizabeth Hill and George Lindsay.

The National Institutes of Health Clinical Center is among the world’s top cancer research facilities, where many important therapies have been pioneered, including CAR T-cell therapy and other immunotherapy approaches that use adoptive cell transfer. NIH is also involved in efforts to determine the most efficient and effective ways to evaluate new anticancer therapies, such as developing new clinical trial designs for precision medicine and immunotherapies.

The Hematology Oncology Fellowship program builds on NCI’s 50-plus-year involvement in cancer research linked to the discovery and development of approximately half of the chemotherapeutic drugs currently used by oncologists to treat cancer. Fellows also benefit from the extensive body of research conducted in benign hematology and hematologic malignancies within the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Learn more about NCI’s Center for Cancer Research advances and landmarks throughout the years.

Fellows are able to participate in the more than 350 clinical trials in oncology and hematology taking place at NIH, and they are able to serve as principal and/or associate investigators throughout their fellowships.

Fellows working with clinical teams have the opportunity to help design, write, and run clinical trials, and then analyze and publish their findings.

Marijo Bilusic, M.D., Ph.D., an award-winning teacher who directs the NIH Hematology Oncology Fellowship program, is a regularly featured speaker at the program’s Friday Didactics lectures. Fellows from all years attend the Friday events where fellows lead tumor board-type discussions and journal club. Program faculty speak about their areas of expertise at the core oncology, hematology and transplant lectures, as well as the monthly inpatient walk rounds and board reviews.