The PIDS Foundation has created an International Medical Graduate (IMG) Early Career Development Award designed to provide bridge financial support to IMGs as they transition from fellow to faculty. The one year award allots $25,000 for use in research expenses, such as supplies, technical support, purchase of small equipment, core fees, statistical support, tuition or workshop fees, or publication fees (salary support or supplemental support for the applicant, institutional indirect costs, and/or health insurance are not permitted).
Applications are now closed. See instructions below.
Eligibility
- Candidates must possess a MD, MD/PhD, DO or equivalent from a non-U.S. medical school
- At the time of application, candidates may:
- be in the final year of a pediatric ID fellowship
- have completed an ID fellowship and are in the final year of a general pediatric residency program
- be within the first 2 years of their first appointment in pediatric infectious diseases after training completion
- Current fellows and residents should have a planned primary appointment (accepted job offer) in pediatric infectious diseases
- Applicants must be a current PIDS member at the time of application
Application
- Completed online form (closed for 2024)
- Biosketch in NIH format (5-page limit)
- Optional mentor biosketch (5-page limit)
- Career development statement (1-page)
- Research proposal (5-page limit)
- Include statement of overall hypothesis and specific aims
- References
- Budget justification (no page limit)
- Maximum travel costs: $3,000
- Maximum publication costs: $3,000
- Letter of support from the Division Director or Chair of applicant’s primary appointment
- For current residents and fellows, this letter should be obtained from the Director/Chair at the institution offering the first primary appointment (not the Program Director of the current training program)
Additional Information
- Career Development Statement: The career development statement from the applicant should include a summary of career goals, reasons for applying for the award, and career development plans for the award period.
- Research Proposal: The primary hypothesis of the research proposal and specific aims 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 sample size considerations, should be described in detail. Implications and possible applications of results of the proposed project to the care of children should be discussed.
- Formatting: 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.
- Budget Justification: The budget justification should include proposed expenses, such as research supplies, salary support for research personnel, purchase of small equipment, core fees, statistical support, tuition or workshop fees, publication fees. The budget justification will not affect funding decisions. For awardees, any issues regarding the budget justification will be addressed between the awardee and the PIDS Foundation as needed.
- Division Director or Chair Letter: The statement from the Division Director or Chair for the applicant’s primary appointment in Pediatric Infectious Diseases should summarize the applicant’s qualifications, potential for success, and choice of research mentor and project. This statement should also document the division/departmental commitment to preserve the appropriate amount of protected time for the PI to conduct this research during the award period.
- Final Report: Recipients of the IMG Early Career Development Award must prepare a final report summarizing 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.
- Awardees may be asked to complete periodic follow-up surveys from PIDS to assess long-term outcomes of the award mechanism.
- Reports should be submitted to Christy Phillips in the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society Office via email to cphillips@idsociety.org.
- Acknowledgement: Recipients of the IMG Early Career Development Award must acknowledge the program in all abstracts and publications that result from the research supported by the award with the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society IMG Early Career Development Award funded by the PIDS Foundation.
The completed application should be submitted as a single pdf file.
Funding decisions will be made around March 1, 2024. The awardee is expected to be present for the award announcement at the PIDS Foundation Dinner at IDWeek in October 2024.
Questions regarding the IMG Early Career Development Award, including eligibility, application process, or other issues, can be addressed to Dr. Masako Shimamura (masako.shimamura@nationwidechildrens.org) or Christy Phillips (cphillips@idsociety.org).
