Neurotrauma Clinical Research Fellowship

Dr. Charles Bagley Jr. Spinal Neurotrauma Clinical Research Fellowship

Department of Neurosurgery / R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center

University of Maryland School of Medicine

Type: Full-time

Location: R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center / University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

Period: July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027; renewable for one additional year based on performance and programmatic need

Salary: Competitive salary and benefits

Description

The Bagley Research Fellowship honors the memory of Dr. Charles Bagley Jr., the founder of the neurosurgery service at the University of Maryland. Having trained with Dr. Harvey Cushing, Dr. Bagley promoted research and scholarship for the improvement of neurosurgical patient care. In this spirit, the Bagley Fellow will engage in clinical research in the Department of Neurosurgery with the goal of producing scholarly work to advance the field of neurosurgery and ultimately improve patient care.

The 2026-2027 Bagley Fellowship focuses on spinal neurotrauma clinical research in the Spinal Neurotrauma Research Program embedded within the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The program works with the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center (STC), one of the nation’s highest-volume trauma centers, which surgically manages approximately 100-120 cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) cases annually. The program’s research portfolio spans intraoperative imaging, surgical decompression strategies, registry-based outcomes science, and registry-embedded clinical trials focused on improving care for patients with traumatic cervical SCI.

The primary research infrastructure of the program is the Shock Trauma Cervical SCI Registry (STC-SCI): a prospective, consecutively enrolled REDCap-based platform linking injury mechanism and timing, operative detail, standardized MRI and CT imaging phenotypes, quantitative intraoperative ultrasound, postoperative decompression verification, complications, and longitudinal neurologic, functional, and patient-reported outcomes. The registry serves simultaneously as a prospective observational data resource and as the trial-enabling infrastructure for an ongoing registry-embedded randomized pilot clinical trials. The Research Fellow will serve as an embedded, full-time member of this program.

Primary responsibilities center on clinical research data management and registry operations, with dedicated time for collaborative scholarly activity. The position is designed for candidates with substantive interest in academic spine surgery, neurotrauma, neurosurgery, and clinical research who seek rigorous immersion in clinical trial infrastructure, outcomes methodology, and prospective registry-based investigation.

Primary Responsibilities

Day-to-day activities will include but are not limited to:

• Day-to-day curation and management of the STC-SCI REDCap registry, including prospective data entry, retrospective data entry, ensure data integrity and data verification, completeness monitoring, and discrepancy resolution
• Collaboration with clinical research coordinators to ensure accurate and timely capture of acute care, operative, imaging, and longitudinal outcomes data across the care continuum
• Coordination of clinical follow-up workflows, including scheduling, telehealth contacts, telephone assessments, and standardized outcome instrument administration (SCIM-III, AO Spine PROST)
• Quality control of imaging variables (MRI, CT, intraoperative ultrasound) using prespecified measurement rules; flagging and resolving discrepancies in collaboration with the faculty principal investigator
• Enrollment screening and consent coordination support for the registry-embedded clinical trials
• Support for IRB protocol maintenance, amendments, and annual continuing reviews in coordination with clinical research coordinators
• Contribution to manuscript preparation, abstract submission, and grant progress reporting
• Participation in program research meetings, case conferences, and journal club activities
• Regular, structured reporting to the faculty principal investigator

The Fellow will also have the opportunity to initiate and lead mentor-approved independent scholarly projects using registry data and other projects, including outcomes analyses, imaging biomarker studies, and methodology manuscripts aligned with the program’s research agenda. Mentored project completion, abstract submission, and manuscript preparation are expected outcomes of the fellowship year.

Clinical Exposure

Outside of research duties, the Fellow will observe clinical activities within the Department of Neurosurgery and at Shock Trauma Center, including cervical spine and neurosurgery operative cases, didactic conferences, and patient rounds. The Fellow will not perform clinical duties independently.

Departmental Values

The Fellow will be expected to demonstrate and uphold the Department of Neurosurgery’s mission and core values.

The Department of Neurosurgery aims to excel and innovate in the clinical practice, science, and education of neurosurgery. We seek to achieve this by creating a platform and culture whereby all team members contribute to this mission and reach their full capacity for impact and fulfillment. Critical to our success is each team member’s alignment and demonstration of our shared values:

• Patients First
• Always Do the Right Thing
• Leave It Better Than You Found It
• Drive to Mastery

To Apply

Please submit the following:

• CV
• Medical school transcript (official or unofficial)
• Statement of intent describing research interests, relevant experience, and career goals
• Two letters of recommendation
• USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK score reports (if applicable)

Qualifications

Required:

• US medical student (MS3 or MS4) or recent medical graduate
• Demonstrated interest in neurosurgery, spine surgery, and academic medicine
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage longitudinal data workflows independently

Preferred:

• Background in clinical research, database management, or quantitative data analysis
• Familiarity with REDCap or comparable electronic data capture platforms
• Interest in spinal cord injury, neurotrauma, surgical outcomes, or clinical trial methodology
• USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK scores (if applicable)