JERROLD J. ELLNER, M.D.
Chief, Section of Infectious Diseases
Boston Medical Center
Professor of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
The primary teaching affiliate of the
Boston University School of Medicine.
August 6, 2014
Awards Committee
Department of Medicine
Dear Committee Members:
I am pleased to support the candidacy of Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine,
for the Junior Mentor Faculty Award. In her three years on the faculty, a relatively large number of residents,
fellows and medical students have sought her mentorship. This in itself reflects the perception of trainees that
Nahid can offer expert guidance and a meaningful and productive research experience related to infection
control. Dr. Bhadelia for her part is committed to attract and inspire interested students and to help develop
the next generation of hospital epidemiologists. She has demonstrated the ability to engage trainees in projects
that are timely. She has accepted the mentor’s role of guiding each through the entire process of research
starting from data collection and analysis to effective communication of results.
Most notably, she has worked with Dr. Kinna Thakarar (ID fellow) and Dr. Matt Collins (medical resident) on
a project evaluating the role of in situ thrombus on development. The related manuscript, “The Role of
Alteplase Use and Systemic Hypercoagulability in Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections
(CLABSIs),” was published in the American Journal of Infection Control. She also mentored Dr. Jason Leung
(medical student) on a project examining the role of obesity in increasing the risk of Clostridium difficile
infection. The study, “Possible Association between Obesity and Clostridium difficile Infection” is one of
only two recently published clinical series showing this association and was published in the November 2013
issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases. She is currently working with Dr. Amanda Thornton (ID fellow) on a
project examining the intersection between inflammatory bowel disease, obesity and Clostridium difficile
infection. I asked these mentees to comment on their experiences. I have excerpted representative comments.
Dr. Thakara:
While on service, I expressed my interest in quality improvement research, and Dr. Bhadelia immediately
starting brainstorming with me about possible research projects for my fellowship. After spending just two
weeks on service with Dr. Bhadelia, we developed a research question, hypothesis, and study design…. Dr.
Bhadelia’s energy and enthusiasm had an enormous influence on my research experience in fellowship and
inspired me to continue with a research-focused career path….Dr. Bhadelia continued to encourage me to
maintain my research interests and helped me develop timelines in order to finish the research analysis by the
end of my first year of fellowship. She was always willing to meet with me, and she provided constructive
feedback during our research discussions…. She then gave me the opportunity to meet with the infection
control committee at BMC in order to provide input for an educational brochure for patients receiving
central lines at BMC…In addition to her mentorship on my fellowship quality improvement project, Dr.
Bhadelia has also been a great role model for me. While my research now involves HIV and addiction
research, as opposed to infection control research, Dr. Bhadelia still continues to meet with me about career
opportunities and continues to share her insights about becoming a young investigator in the ID field.
Evans Biomedical Research Center | 650 Albany Street, 608 | Boston, MA 02118 | T. 617.414.3510 | F. 617.414.3529 |
www.bmc.org
Dr. Collins:
My experience with Dr. Bhadelia began with more of a plea for help than a professional inquiry. I was an
intern interested in infectious diseases who felt his right brain was beginning to atrophy without some
creative thinking outside of daily ward demands. Word of mouth informed me that Dr. Bhadelia had projects
available, and I was immediately satisfied with my decision to stop by her office. Conversations with Dr.
Bhadelia were always a dialogue, never dictation. Rather than tell me what to do, she began by listening – to
my interests, past experience, career plans, and goals. We crafted a way for me to be involved in a study on
which she and a fellow were working. She pointed out that literature review and drafting could be done in my
spare time and balanced with a busy clinical schedule. She kindly reigned in my slightly-too-floral diction
and helped me express our ideas in a form more appropriate for scientific communication. We met multiple
times over the next 1.5 years to update on progress among other things. It was important to Dr. Bhadelia that
I understood the concept of our work and not only my little part. She asked questions, solicited questions and
patiently talked through ideas. The experience was productive. The work was presented at the annual IDSA
meeting before going on to publication…. Between being a hospital epidemiologist, Director of Infection
Control at the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory, seeing clinic patients, and attending on
inpatient teams; it is a complete mystery to me how Dr. Nahid Bhadelia has any time or energy to mentor
peers and trainees. But fortunately for us, a growing group of benefiting mentees, she does. Dr. Bhadelia
approaches her work with an enthusiastic and comfortable sense of duty and purpose, allowing her to apply
herself fully to every aspect of what it means to mentor. She scales her coaching to the needs of the coached,
keenly identifying where support, constructive criticism, space, direction, patience, or challenge are most
required to advance the mentee. Like most good mentor-mentee relationships, our interactions expanded. Dr.
Bhadelia helped guide me through fellowship selection and interviewing, readily agreed to supply a reference
letter for my application, and served as a networking resource. These discrete examples more than prove that
Dr. Bhadelia is an excellent mentor, but it is a subjective factor that marks her as exceptional for me. She
truly cares about her mentees. She seeks to add to their career development in the most relevant and useful
way possible, and is there to offer whatever support they need.
Nahid has been an outstanding clinician teacher and role model to infectious diseases fellows, medical
residents and medical students maintaining a focus on evidence-based practice and research opportunities.
Additionally, she helped to design the infection control syllabus that is now used to provide advanced training
in hospital epidemiology to our third year fellows. Dr. Bhadelia also serves as the Director of Infection
Control at the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory. Her expertise in management of emerging
pathogens is a unique resource available to our trainees.
For these reasons and particularly the insights provided by the trainees, I am pleased to provide my
enthusiastic support for Nahid Bhadelia’s candidacy. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Jerrold J. Ellner M.D.
Chief, Section of Infectious Diseases
Boston Medical Center
Professor of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
Evans Biomedical Research Center | 650 Albany Street, 608 | Boston, MA 02118 | T. 617.414.3510 | F. 617.414.3529 |
www.bmc.org