Fellowship Award in CMV Medical Education

The PIDS Fellowship Award in CMV Medical Education was established as an effort to improve maternal and infant health through medical education. Specifically, the award will seek proposals by current PIDS fellows to develop educational modules, conduct education research, or apply adult learning theory to the issue of CMV diagnosis, treatment, and prevention in children and young adults.

The primary goal of the award is to fund high quality, innovate medical education research around a fundamental pediatric ID issue. This is a one year, $25,000 award funded by our partners at Moderna.

Eligibility

• Candidates must possess a MD, MD/PhD, DO or equivalent and be a first- or second-year fellow in a Pediatric Infectious Diseases program in North America at the time of application.
• During the fellowship award period, the applicant is expected to devote the majority of effort (approximately 75%) conducting the research project under the direct supervision of a mentor.
• The primary or co-mentor must be a current PIDS member.

Support

• The award provides $25,000 in total costs for one year.
• The award may be used at the discretion of the applicant, such as salary support, purchase of small equipment, technical support, research supplies, statistical support, tuition or workshop fees, publication fees. Indirect costs and health insurance are not permitted.

Application

All application submissions will be reviewed by the Fellowship Awards Subcommittee. Funding decisions and feedback from the subcommittee will be sent to applicants by June 1, 2025. Announcement of the awardees will be made at IDWeek in October 2025.

Applications must include the following items (please see following paragraphs for additional instructions):

• Completed online form
• Applicant’s biosketch in current NIH format (5-page limit)
• Mentor’s biosketch in current NIH format (5-page limit)
• Personal statement from the applicant (1 page)
• Research proposal (5-page limit, including the statement of overall hypothesis and specific aims)
• References (no page limit)
• Budget justification (no page limit)
• Letter of support from the applicant’s division director or fellowship program director
• Letter of support from the prospective research mentor, which should include a detailed career development plan for the applicant

The completed application should be submitted as a single pdf file through the website portal by 11:59 PM Pacific Time on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.

Additional Instructions

Personal Statement: The personal statement from the applicant should include a summary of career goals, reasons for applying for a fellowship award, and career development plans for the award period.

Research Proposal: The primary hypothesis of the research proposal and specific aims designed to address that hypothesis should be described clearly and concisely. The applicant should summarize the significance of the proposed research, relevant background information, and any available preliminary data. The experimental methods to be employed and plans for statistical analysis, including consideration for sample size (e.g., power analysis), should be described in detail. Implications and possible applications of results of the proposed project to the care of children should be discussed.

• Use Arial, Helvetica, Palatino Linotype, or Georgia typeface and a font size of 11 points or larger. Type density, including characters and spaces, must be no more than 15 characters per inch. Type may be no more than six lines per inch.
  • Use at least one-half inch margins (top, bottom, left, and right) for all pages.

References: References for the research proposal should be provided but are excluded from the 5-page limit.

Budget Justification: The budget justification should include proposed expenses, such as salary support, purchase of small equipment, technical support, research supplies, statistical support, tuition or workshop fees, publication fees. Indirect costs and health insurance are not permitted. The budget is requested for informational purposes only and will not affect funding decisions.

Division Director or Fellowship Program Director Letter: The statement from the applicant’s division director or fellowship program director should summarize the applicant’s qualifications and potential for success and provide support for the applicant’s choice of research mentor and research project. This statement should also document the division’s commitment to preserve the appropriate amount of protected time for the fellow to conduct research during the award period.

Mentor Letter: The letter of support from the research mentor should include a brief description of the current projects in their research program, a list of current research personnel, a summary of the applicant’s proposed research project, and documentation of the commitment to directly supervise the fellow. The mentor should also describe in detail a specific plan to foster the applicant’s career as a physician-scientist during their fellowship.

Questions regarding the PIDS Fellowship Award in CMV Medical Education, including eligibility, application process, or other issues, can be addressed to Dr. Masako Shimamura (masako.shimamura@nationwidechildrens.org).

Progress Report

Recipient of the must prepare an interim report 6 months after the award is issued. The report should summarize experimental results, indicate problems encountered, and detail any alterations in the original protocol. In addition, the report should include a list of publications, pending publications, and presentations at scientific meetings. Reports should be submitted to Christy Phillips in the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society Office (PIDS Headquarters via email to cphillips@idsociety.org.

At the completion of the award period, fellows must generate a final progress report summarizing their accomplishments. The report should be sent to Christy Phillips in the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society Office. Awardees may be asked to complete periodic follow-up surveys from PIDS to assess long-term outcomes of the award mechanism.

Acknowledgement

Recipients of the PIDS Fellowship Award in CMV Medical Education must acknowledge the program in all abstracts and publications that result from the research supported by the award.