APA Resident Investigator Award
The APA Board of Directors announces the 2012 award cycle of the Academic Pediatric Association Resident Investigator Awards Program. The Program provides awards of up to $5,000 for research by residents related to child health promotion, health services research, teaching, or patient care. Projects must specifically address one of the following areas in general pediatrics: health services research, medical or housestaff education, adolescent medicine, public health, epidemiology, emergency medicine, child maltreatment, hospitalist medicine, developmental/behavioral pediatrics, or other pediatric clinical research domains in general pediatrics. Projects must be consistent with the goals of the APA; preference is given to projects that have the potential to lead to further studies.
Only residents in their first- and second- year or third-year residents in a Med-Peds residency are eligible.
Applicants may submit more than one proposal with different research questions. No more than one award per Principal Investigator, however, will be funded in a given year. The same proposal may not be submitted twice in a given award cycle. Applicants who have received a prior RIA are not eligible to receive a second RIA.
The funds available for this program will be determined annually by the Board of Directors. The number of awards will depend on the funds available and the size of the award requests of the selected projects.
The specifics of this program are as follows:
- The principal investigator (PI) of any proposal submitted must be 1) a resident in an ACGME-approved residency program in the US or Canada; and 2) a current member of the APA, or have submitted an application for membership. The principal investigator must also submit a biographical sketch (using the standard two-page NIH biosketch form), and letters of support from 1) the primary research mentor, 2) the residency program director, and 3) the department chair, along with the initial two-page proposal. These documents do not count toward the overall page count.
- Proposals submitted should address an important area of general pediatric concern for the health or healthcare of children or adolescents (see detailed description of acceptable domains above). The awards will be one-time awards; multiple-year funding requests will not be considered. Preference will be given to those proposals that have the potential to lead to projects of a larger or longer-term nature.
- Initial proposals The submission deadline has passed.
These initial proposals must include the following items:*- Cover sheet indicating the project title, and names and contact information for the PI, primary mentor, and department chair, including e-mail addresses.
- Description of the proposal- - not to exceed two single-spaced pages, including the budget and budget justification, and must use a font size no smaller than Arial 11, with 1" margins. This section must provide a brief overview of the project, including project aims, background, methods, evaluation, and significance of the study. The cover sheet and references are not included in this two-page limit. Please adhere strictly to these requirements-failure to do so will result in return of the application without further review.
- Budget and budget justification- - This should not include overhead (indirect costs), salary for the PI or mentors, or equipment for long-term use (e.g., computers). A maximum of $1,000 is allowable for travel to the annual PAS meeting.
- Biographical sketch for the PI and the primary mentor, using the standard NIH biosketch form. For this purpose, the biosketches are not to exceed two pages, and no personal statement is needed. The biosketches also need to be resubmitted with the full proposal, and do not count towards the page limit. The form can be found at the following site: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/biosketch.doc; instructions for filling out the form can be found at the following link: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/biosketchsample.doc
- Letter of support from the primary mentor, program director, and department chair. A typed signature is acceptable if an electronic signature is not available. These letters of support also need to be resubmitted with the full proposal (should one be invited) and do not count towards the page limit.
- A review panel, convened by the Chair of the APA Research Committee, will review submitted initial proposals, and select PIs whom will be invited to submit full proposals. PIs will be notified by December 14, 2011, regarding whether or not they have been invited to submit a full proposal. The deadline for full proposal submission is January 13, 2012 by 5 pm ET.
- Full proposals must include the following five items*:
- The entire proposal, including cover sheet, tables, budget, references, and appendices, must not exceed 10 double-spaced pages, using a font size no smaller than Arial 11 and 1" margins
- A cover sheet must be included, indicating the project title, and PI name and contact information, including the names and e-mail addresses for the PI, primary mentor, Residency Program Director, and the Department Chair
- Specific aims, background, preliminary studies (if applicable), detailed methods, evaluation, timeline (the project must be completed within 1 year), description of key personnel, and detailed budget with justification (see restrictions listed above)
- Biographical sketch, using the standard 2-page NIH biosketch form
- Letter of support from the primary mentor
- A second "study section," convened by the APA Research Committee Chair, will review and score the full proposals, and prepare a 1 - 2 page summary review that will be sent to applicants. Funding decisions will be based on the results of the study section review. Full-proposal applicants will be notified of funding decisions in February 2012. The number of proposals approved and funded will be determined by the funds available for the given year. The awardees will be announced at the annual 2012 PAS meeting.
- Awards will be made with the understanding that the project is initiated no later than July 2012, and will be completed within one year. Awardees are encouraged to submit abstracts from their projects to a PAS meeting and to submit a manuscript summarizing the project results to the APA journal, Academic Pediatrics, for possible publication.
- Each awardee will be paired with a National Facilitator, an accomplished, nationally recognized senior investigator from an institution other than the PI's. The facilitator will be available to provide advice and input on the project; complement the PI's mentor by offering additional mentoring on an as needed basis; supply networking opportunities for awardees in their field; provide career advice to awardees regarding future academic pursuits; and be in regular communication with the awardee, via phone calls, e-mails, and in-person meetings at the annual PAS meeting.
- Awardees are required to submit to the APA Board a progress report regarding the funded project nine months after the project start date and a final report upon completion of the project.
*Please Note - incomplete submissions and proposals that exceed page limits will not be forwarded to the review team.
Questions about this program can be directed to Allison Hartle at the APA central office by calling (703-556-9222) or via email (Allison@academicpeds.org).
