Ali Safi, a special correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers in Kabul, Afghanistan, has received a fellowship from the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, the center announced Wednesday.

The Ochberg Fellowships are awarded to mid-career journalists who have specialized in covering violence, conflict and tragedy. Recipients spend a week at Columbia University in New York City, attending seminars with leading experts in trauma science and journalism practice.

Safi has worked in McClatchy’s Kabul bureau since 2010. A physician by training, he’s covered violence throughout Afghanistan for McClatchy. He’s worked previously for a variety of international news organizations, including the BBC, The Times of London, and Germany’s ZDF TV.

Safi received a Radio Netherlands broadcast journalism fellowship in 2008 and was the producer of the BBC Radio team that won the 2010 Amnesty International Award for Investigative Journalism.

A total of 15 fellowships were awarded to journalists representing a wide range of news organizations, including the Los Angeles Times, the Australian Broadcasting Corp., The Dallas Morning News and Al Jazeera English.