SAEM-Approved Joint Global Emergency Medicine Research Fellowship - Weill Cornell Medicine - Aga Khan University

The mission of the Weill Cornell-Aga Khan Global Emergency Medicine Research Fellowship is to train emergency physicians for academic careers in global emergency care research. 

Joint Global Health Research Fellowship Team Members stand in attendance at the research Fellowship

Our vision is to develop future leaders in global emergency care focused on addressing health disparities, emergency care system strengthening, and delivering high-quality acute and emergency care for populations globally through innovation and research.

Learning Philosophy 

The SAEM-approved Global EM Research fellowship program adopts a deliberate practice approach to training where training objectives are achieved through purposeful and systematic learning. The curriculum framework hinges on the pursuit of personal improvement across four essential components via well-defined, specific goals within targeted areas of development. The research topics and field sites for each fellow will be tailored to their own self-identified core interests. Knowledge acquired will be reinforced using focused mentorship strategies and training will be strengthened using continuous formative and summative assessment linked to performance.

Global Health Research Photo

Objectives of the Fellowship:

  • Fellows will achieve the following three objectives during the two-year program:
  • Develop the knowledge and understanding of emergency care systems in complex clinical environments within low-resource settings, including building cultural and ethical competency regarding global emergency care.
  • Develop knowledge and experience in diverse research designs and methods applicable to programs to address emergency care needs in low-resource settings. This includes: 1) the completion of the requirements for a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research; 2) experience in the conduct of global emergency care research, including preparing and submitting of IRB applications, dissemination of findings via scholarly presentations and manuscripts; and 3) preparation of NIH grant applications.
  • Develop competency and gain experience in the practice of evidence-based emergency care in New York City, and abroad.

global Health research fellowship large team

Curriculum Structure:

The curriculum has four components:

  1. Global Emergency Care: During the fellowship, the fellow will spend a total of 9 months at one of the Aga Khan University’s Emergency Department Site depending on their area of interest; international clinical sites are located in South Asia (Pakistan) and East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania). Through this fieldwork experience, fellows will gain direct exposure to the delivery of emergency care in resource-poor settings. Fellows will receive mentored training to develop skills for stakeholder engagement, demonstrating culturally competent healthcare, and establishing successful relationships with international colleagues, and have the opportunity to take language courses to improve their cross-cultural communication skills. We will hold biweekly didactic sessions and journal clubs with Weill Cornell and global EM faculty, guest lecturers, and joint sessions with other fellows in EM will allow the fellow to acquire knowledge of major global health conditions and gain an understanding of various health delivery systems.
  2. Formal Training in Patient-Oriented Research: Fellows will have the opportunity to complete a Masters of Science (MSc) degree in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research from the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. This curriculum spans two years and includes both formal didactic and mentored training in patient-oriented research. Specifically, fellows will gain an understanding of research methodology, study design, and develop skills in data management and analysis.
  3. Global EM Research: Each fellow will undertake a primary research project under the guidance of a project mentor. Each project will include project design, proposal writing, submission of research protocols to an Institutional Review Board (IRB), data collection, data analysis, presentation of one or more individual research abstracts at a national or international conference, and/or publication of one or more manuscripts in a peer-reviewed journal. In year 2 of the fellowship, fellows will complete a K-level NIH grant based upon data from their scholarly project. Fellows are also partnering with Emergency Medicine residents in Botswana to develop a research mentorship program. 
  4. Practice of Academic Emergency Medicine: For 6 months each year, the fellow will work as a member of the clinical faculty of the WCM Department of Emergency Medicine. The fellow will participate in all academic activities in the Department of Emergency Medicine, including grand rounds presentations, conferences, and resident teaching.

Fellowship Competencies

Upon completion of the Global Emergency Medicine Research Fellowship, fellows will have:

  • Successfully completed the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science (MSc) in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research at the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
  • Developed the level of skill required of individuals working in global low-resources settings, which include a thorough understanding of global health systems, the burden of disease, ethics of global care, cultural competency, professionalism, communication, and capacity-strengthening strategies.
  • Developed the level of skill and experience required of individuals to lead patient-oriented global health research in low-resource acute care settings, including writing an NIH K-level grant.

Global Health Research Fellowship Building

Organizational Structure

Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) has strong and diverse global health faculty, many of whom are conducting NIH-sponsored research. The fellowship director will be predominantly responsible for programmatic oversight, development, and monitoring of individualized training plans and successful completion of the fellowship objectives during the training program. Aga Khan University (AKU) is a premier research institution with campuses in South Asia, East Africa, and the UK. Its campus in Pakistan hosts the country’s largest emergency medicine residency program. Supported by Fogarty International Center at the NIH, AKU has established Masters and Ph.D. programs in emergency and trauma care research. AKU’s campuses in Kenya and Tanzania are in the early stages of establishing residency programs and provide a diverse set of opportunities for high-quality and impactful research and training.

The fellow will have the opportunity to identify a project mentor who will provide focused research mentorship on a specific topic. Fellows may identify a project from within the department of Emergency Medicine or from within the larger WCM community, depending on their core interests. Within the Department of Emergency Medicine, the following project mentors will be available: Dr. Junaid Razzak (health systems, clinical emergency care), Dr. Radhika Sundararajan (implementation science/community-based research), Dr. Manish Garg (global EM education/capacity building), and Dr. Prakriti Gill (Pediatric Emergency Medicine/Global Health).

In addition, the fellows will receive focused support, feedback, and monitoring in their role as academic faculty members. The fellows will work as Attending Physicians in the Weill Cornell Emergency Departments when they are in New York City. Dr. Rahul Sharma (Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine) will meet with the fellow bi-annually to review clinical progress and monitor academic development.

Application Details & Requirements

Application details:

  • Application deadline: by/before 11:59pm on October 6, 2025
  • Interview Invitations: October 2025
  • Decisions: November 2025
Application requirements: 
1. A personal statement outlining your research interests, global health experience and career goals
2. Curriculum vitae
3. At least two letters of reference- one letter must be from the current/prior Residency Program Director or the Residency Associate Program Director
To apply, please visit the SAEM Application Portal.

Contact Information

For more information about the Global Health Research Fellowship, please contact Bria Williams :
brw4012@med.cornell.edu
212-746-0965

Additional information can be found at the SAEM Website

Current Fellows


Hetal Bhatt - 2nd Year

Degrees:
BA - Case Western Reserve University - Biology and Psychology (2015)
MS- Johns Hopkins University- Biotechnology (2016)
DO- Western University of Health Sciences (2021)
Residency:
Emergency Medicine; Trinity Health Systems - Steubenville, Ohio (2024)
Fellowship:
Global Emergency Medicine; Weill Cornell Medicine - New York, NY (-- 2026)
Master of Clinical Epidemiology; Weill Cornell Medicine - New York, NY (-- 2026)
About My Experience:
I am currently a second-year global health emergency medicine fellow at Weill Cornell School of Medicine. My research interests are humanitarian aid/disaster preparedness, particularly in the pediatric population. Some projects that I am currently working on include a scoping review of the implications of disaster response in schools for school-aged children. I am also working on a validation study for CAMERA (City’s Assessment of Mass Casualty Emergency Response and Action) tool that would help cities evaluate their disaster preparedness. Based on how cities score, they would receive feedback on what they can do to improve their response system. The goal is for this tool to objectively measure and score the lifesaving capability of urban health systems after a Mass Casualty Event (MCI) occurs. This would greatly help cities identify gaps in disaster response and plan for capacity building before a real disaster occurs. 
I am also interested in the implications that research findings can have on a policy level. I have done some policy work in the past through the Student Osteopathic Medical Association, American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine. In the future, I hope to bridge the gap between researchers and policymakers to provide better evidence-based medicine to various communities. 


Tara Pilato - 1st Year

Degrees:
Degrees:
BA - University of Notre Dame - Music Performance (Viola Concentration), Pre-Health (2017)
MD - Weill Cornell Medical College (2022)
Residency:
Emergency Medicine; Temple University Hospital - Philadelphia, PA (2025)
Fellowship:
Global Emergency Medicine; Weill Cornell Medicine - New York, NY (-- 2027)
Master of Public Health (Executive Program); Columbia University -  New York, NY (-- 2027)
About My Experience:
As a medical student at Weill, I had the privilege of interacting with a diverse population of asylum seekers in my work with the Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights. I hoped to continue this work after completing emergency medicine residency, as my outlook on Global Health has always been more local - focused on the population hidden in plain sight.  The EM/Global Health faculty are kindly invested in my more self-designed path, including a Master of Public Health.  I'm focused on health equity, and the intersection between human rights and healthcare access in refugee populations.

Alumni

Emily Chien - 2022-2024


Alex Sirney - 2023-2025

Degrees:
BA - James Madison University - Media Arts and Design (2007)
BS - James Madison University - Anthropology (2007)
DO - AT Still University (2020)
MSc - Cornell University (2025)
Residency:
Emergency Medicine
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center - Lubbock, TX (2023)
Fellowship:
Global Emergency Medicine Research
Weill Cornell Medicine - New York, NY (2025)
About My Experience:
During the fellowship, I worked on projects in Pakistan, Tunisia, and Botswana while pursuing my own research in threatcasting and the emergency medicine workforce. I'm staying on at Weill Cornell as faculty and will continue to be involved in the fellowship. I'm taking leave in the fall to complete the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and will return in January.

Faculty Coordinators

Walid
Walid Farooqi, M.B.B.S
Global Health Research Fellowship Coordinator
Prakriti Gill, MD
Prakriti Gill, M.D., DTM&H
Assistant Program Director, Weill Cornell Global Emergency Medicine Research Fellowship
Assistant Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine
Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics
Junaid Razzak
Junaid Razzak, M.D., PhD
Vice Chair and Director, Division of Research
Program Director, Weill Cornell Global Emergency Medicine Research Fellowship
Professor of Emergency Medicine
Bria
Bria Williams
Global Health Research Fellowship Coordinator

Mailing Address
New York-Presbyterian Hospital
Weill Cornell Medical Center
Department of Emergency Medicine
525 E. 68th St., Box 179
New York, NY 10065

Office of the Chair
Emergency Medicine
525 E. 68th St., M-130
New York, NY 10065
(212) 746-0780

Research Office
525 E. 68th St., M-130
New York, NY 10065
EMResearch@med.cornell.edu

Leading Emergency Care