Difficulty finding research

So I am currently a PGY-1 and I really want to do a fellowship in GI. I've been trying all year to get involved with research and I am having absolutely no luck. I've contacted practically every attending and even some fellows in the department and I either get no response to the email or sent on wild goose chases. At one point I was given a database and a little bit of guidance and I was really excited, but that turned out to be yet another false start. I'm really starting to get frustrated and get down on myself. I wasted a bunch of my "easy" months during intern year chasing these false hopes. I really want to do GI and would preferably like to get a spot right out of residency. I don't understand why I am having such a difficult time finding research. I am an american med grad. I am at a tier 2 academic university IM program. I have average to slightly above average Step 1 and 2 scores. Did anyone else experience such a difficult time finding research? Any recommendations on what I can do differently? Is it even worthwhile applying next year if I don't have anything published? If I do apply next year and get shot down like I expect, does that hurt my chances of reapplying in the future? If I can't get any published, what are some other things I can do to strengthen my candidacy? What are some things people did that didn't match right out of residency, but matched a year or two later? Thanks. I appreciate any help