AGA Research Scholar Award (Deadline: August 10, 2023)

• Applicants for this award must hold an MD, PhD and/or equivalent degree (e.g., MBChB, MBBS, DO), and a full-time faculty or equivalent position at an institution in North America (U.S., Canada or Mexico) by the start date (i.e., July 2024) of this award.
• Applicants must classify as “early career” according to the following criteria:
  • MD (or equivalent) applicants are considered “early career” if no more than seven years have elapsed following the completion of clinical training (GI fellowship or its equivalent) and the start date of this award (July 2024).
  • PhD (or equivalent) applicants are considered “early career” if no more than seven years have elapsed following the conferment of the PhD degree and the start date of this award (July 2024).
  • An appropriately documented leave of absence, such as parental or medical leave, will not be counted toward the above seven-year eligibility criteria. Exceptional circumstances may also be considered. Exemption requests must be submitted to AGA via email (awards@gastro.org) at least three weeks prior to the application deadline and be clearly indicated in the submitted application documents.
• Research Scholar Award applicants are ineligible for AGA fellowship-to-faculty transition awards in the same awards cycle.
• Applicants performing any type of research (basic, translational, clinical) relevant to digestive disorders are eligible to apply.
• AGA membership is required at the time of application submission. Candidates whose AGA membership applications are pending approval may apply for the award.
• Applicants who are physician-scientists, female or from racial/ethnic groups underrepresented in biomedical research are strongly encouraged to apply.

Submission:

• AGA membership must be maintained throughout the three-year duration of the award.
• Applicants will be asked to self-assign their proposal to one of the following categories:
  • Clinical: Research involving direct contact with human subjects or using clinical data to address problems related to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment or outcome of human diseases (e.g., clinical epidemiology). This category also includes research related to health care delivery (e.g., health services, health IT).
  • Basic/translational: Research with a primary goal of understanding basic biology or disease mechanisms. This category can involve animal subjects, cell culture, human biospecimens or human data as resources for laboratory- or informatics-based investigation.
• Resources allocated through this award are intended to support the career development of the applicant. The applicant must allocate a minimum of 50 percent effort to the proposed project.
• Applicants are required to have a sponsor and mentor for the award; one individual may serve in the capacity of both positions. A sponsor (typically a division chief or department chair) is an individual who takes responsibility for the quality assessment of the proposed research project, the quality of the research environment within which the project will be undertaken, and the experience and expertise of the principal investigator and other key researchers involved. A mentor will supervise the principal investigator’s research activities ensuring timelines and deliverables and will work with the applicant to create a research career development plan.
• The intent of this award is to foster the scientific independence of junior investigators. Applicants whose research activities become incorporated into a grant application from a senior mentor will need to clearly delineate the scientific and experimental distinctions between their respective programs. This requirement applies both to pending applications submitted prior to review of this award and to applications submitted during the term of the RSA. It must also be clearly stated how the work submitted by the applicant is that of the applicant and not of the senior mentor(s).
• A complete research facilities and resources form must be submitted.
• Biographical sketches for the applicant, mentor and other key personnel must be submitted.
• Upon notification of receipt of this award, the recipient must provide institutional approval from the appropriate committee(s) for use of human subjects or animals. If approval is not necessary, then the recipient must provide documentation from the appropriate regulatory committee.
• Recipients must submit scientific and financial progress reports to AGA annually and final reports 60 days after the end date of the award period. Report templates and instructions are provided to awardees at the time of acceptance. Second- and third-year funding are contingent upon the submission and accuracy of this documentation.
• All publications, presentations and abstracts arising from work funded by this program must acknowledge support of the AGA Research Scholar Award.

Deadline: August 10, 2023

Amount: $300,000