APA and APA/AHRQ Young Investigator Award
Academic Pediatric Association (APA)
and
APA/Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Young Investigator Award Programs Descriptions
The APA Young Investigator Award Program funds projects in health services research, medical education, adolescent medicine, public health, epidemiology, emergency medicine, child maltreatment, hospitalist medicine, developmental/behavioral pediatrics, and other general pediatric clinical research domains. The APA/AHRQ Young Investigator Program funds either (a) studies that involve quality improvement, or (b) analysis of existing datasets (such as the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, HCUP KID, SED and related products, or CAHPS) without collection of new data. Through the process described below, each of the two Programs award up to $10,000 per selected project, drawing upon Association and Young Investigator Award Program funds. 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 a member of the APA or have submitted an application for membership. Preference will be given to NEW investigators, including those in training. New investigators are defined as: 1) faculty members who are no more than five years out from completion of all training; 2) fellows; or 3) residents. The principal investigator must also submit a biographical sketch (using the standard two-page NIH biosketch form) and a letter of support from a mentor with the initial two-page proposal. These documents do not count toward the overall page count.
- Proposals submitted should address an important area of concern for the health or healthcare of children or adolescents. 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 must be received by October 25, 2009. These initial proposals must include the following items:*
- Cover sheet indicating the project title, Principal Investigator name, and contact information, including e-mail address for the Principal Investigator;.
- 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.
- 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 using the standard NIH biosketch form. For this purpose, the biosketch is not to exceed two pages. The biosketch also needs to be resubmitted with the full proposal and does 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. A typed signature is acceptable if an electronic signature is not available. This letter of support also needs to be resubmitted with the full proposal and does 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 November 16, 2009, regarding whether or not they have been invited to submit a full proposal. The deadline for full proposal submission is December 16, 2009.
- 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 e-mail addresses for the PI and her/his Division Director and 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 January 2010. 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 2010 PAS meeting.
- Awards will be made with the understanding that the project is initiated no later than July 2010, 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.
