Grants News

NIDCD Announces Supplemental Awards Program to Launch Careers of Otolaryngologist-Investigators

NIDCD has announced a new supplemental grant program to support the training of otolaryngologists with limited research backgrounds who are interested in pursuing a career trajectory including research on hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, or language. The goal of the program is to help these physician-researchers to compete favorably for larger scope NIDCD-sponsored awards, such as clinician-scientist career development awards and research project grant awards.

“NIDCD recognizes the urgent need to nurture well-trained otolaryngologist-researchers capable of translating fundamental scientific discoveries into effective therapies, from bench-to-bedside,” said NIDCD’s research training officer Daniel A. Sklare, Ph.D. “However, the rigorous surgical training that these physicians undergo over years of their residencies and fellowships has made it difficult for them to incorporate a research path into their careers.”

To help address this issue, NIDCD has created two-year administrative research supplements for junior tenure-track faculty (and the equivalent positions in non-academic settings) in otolaryngology. Principal investigators or program directors with active NIDCD-supported R01 or P50 grants can apply for this supplemental grant on behalf of a candidate. The supplemental grant interfaces directly with the R01 or P50 award to enhance the candidate’s research experience while allowing for the further refinement of his or her clinical skills. An eligible candidate for this program is a junior-level otolaryngologist interested in a career trajectory in fundamental, translational, or patient-oriented research in hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, or language, who has less than two years of full-time research training and experience in the biomedical or behavioral sciences. Recipients are eligible to receive up to $100,000 in direct costs per year.

The next submission date for this administrative supplement program is Nov. 1, 2008. This initiative is one of NIDCD’s responses to the Conference on Research Education and Training in Otolaryngology, co-sponsored by the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation and the NIDCD in late 2005. 

See NIDCD’s research training and career development program Web page for more information. Before submitting an application, principal investigators or program directors and their candidates are asked to contact Dr. Sklare to discuss their application by telephone (301-496-1804) or email: sklared@nidcd.nih.gov. Read the full awards program announcement.

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