**Application Deadline - August 1, 2008
PURPOSE OF THE AWARD:
The Institutional Research Training Grant (IRTG) is intended to identify, develop, and fund promising institutions dedicated to providing high quality training to Emergency Medicine research fellows. Its specific goals are:
- To increase the number of emergency medicine physicians with training in research.
- To develop and support programs that can serve as advanced research training sites for Emergency Medicine graduates who wish to pursue a career that involves research.
- To establish a departmental culture in emergency medicine to support advanced research training.
- To enhance the academic development and productivity of the specialty of Emergency Medicine.
ELIGIBILITY
The Applicant
The applicant for the award will be the institution not the trainee. It will be expected that the faculty member overseeing the grant will be an active member of SAEM for greater than 12 months at the time of the grant application deadline and hold an academic appointment in emergency medicine or pediatric emergency medicine within the institution during the entire duration of the grant. The grant will not be transferable to another mentor or another institution. Applicants who have previously received an SAEM IRTG award are not precluded from applying again, but may not begin a second award during a prior award’s funding period. When there are equally competitive applications submitted, preference will be given to applicants who have never received an SAEM IRTG.
The Home Department
The institution should host or be affiliated with a department or division of Emergency Medicine or Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Departments outside the United States are eligible. The department must be able to demonstrate a track record of academic excellence and a commitment to the support of research and research training. The department must also demonstrate that it has the infrastructure (space and interdepartmental affiliations) in place to provide an appropriate training environment (funds from the award may be used to develop and enrich this infrastructure).
The Training Site
The primary training site should be an academic department or division of emergency medicine or pediatric emergency medicine. Any appropriate site would be expected to have access and facilities for training similar to those outlined in the NIH guidelines for clinical research training
(http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-00-002.html). For example affiliations with departments or universities offering advanced degrees and training in research methodology is strongly encouraged.
Faculty Mentor
The success of this training award is highly dependent upon mentorship. The identified mentor must therefore be able and willing to oversee the training program, meet frequently with the trainee and ensure the goals of the training program are met. The faculty mentors should have a strong track record of academic and research excellence and should be committed to the training program. The faculty mentor will be responsible for selecting the fellow into the program, supervising the fellow's research project and ensuring completion of the training program and a research project in the two-year period of the grant. . It will be expected that the faculty member overseeing the grant will be an active member of SAEM and hold an academic appointment in emergency medicine or pediatric emergency medicine within the institution during the entire duration of the grant. Secondary mentors outside of emergency medicine who can add to the research training program are encouraged.
The Research Fellow
The research fellow must have an advanced degree such as MD, DO, PhD, PharmD, DSc or equivalent, hold a university appointment in or be actively involved with a department or division of Emergency Medicine, and be an active member of SAEM. The award is otherwise not contingent on the fellow, and the applicant does not need to have a specific fellow identified or recruited for the fellowship at the time of application. The institution will be responsible for selecting an appropriate fellow. After being notified by SAEM the institution will have two years to notify SAEM of an appropriate candidate and funding will start from the day the fellow starts at the institution. It is expected that the research fellow will be dedicated to a minimum of 70% research effort and it will be the supervisor's and chair's responsibility to ensure that a dedicated 70% effort is being made protecting the fellow from clinical, administrative and other academic activities. Recognizing that most clinicians will want to do some clinical work SAEM is allowing fellows to work a maximum of one clinical shift per week. Fellows should be considered as junior faculty. Moonlighting should be strongly discouraged to ensure dedication to the training program. A competitive salary from clinical revenue and grant funds is encouraged.
POLICIES GOVERNING THE USE OF HUMANS AND ANIMALS
If human or animal experimentation is to be performed during the period of the award, the Department and institution to be used as the training site must affirm:
a. that investigations involving human subjects proposed and subsequently carried out in the application have been endorsed by the Institutional Review Board, or other clearly designated appropriate body, at the study site.
b. that any research involving human subjects will conform ethically with the guidelines prescribed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
c. that research involving animals will conform with the current "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals", NIH publication, DHHS/USPHS, and has been approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee at the study site.
PATENT, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER POLICY
All inventions discovered or arising out of research supported in whole or in part by SAEM which may be used in emergency medicine research, teaching, or practice shall be reported within one (1) year to SAEM. "Invention" is any discovery, material, method, process, product, program, software of use, whether or not patented or patentable or copyrighted or copyrightable, that has application of value such that its use, licensing, lease, or sale can generate revenue.
If the institution receiving or disbursing SAEM funds which supported the invention has an established and applicable patent, intellectual property, or technology transfer policy and procedure for administering inventions, SAEM will defer to that policy.
If the institution has no established and applicable patent, intellectual property, or technology transfer policy and procedure for administering inventions, SAEM shall have the right to determine the disposition of invention rights. In such cases, SAEM may:
a. Decide that patent and copyright should be or not be filed.
b. Release the invention to the inventor(s) or inventor's designee.
c. Submit the invention to a qualified organization for administration and licensing.
d. Determine by negotiation the fair share of royalty income to be paid to the inventor(s).
e. License or make other arrangements for the application and use of the invention on an exclusive or non-exclusive, royalty, or royalty-free basis.
INVESTIGATORY FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE POLICY/OBJECTIVITY IN RESEARCH
Applicants and institutions are required by SAEM to comply with the PHS regulations, Final Rule, 42 CFR Part 50, Subpart F, Responsibility of Applicants for Promoting Objectivity in Research.
The signature of the officials signing for the applicant's and mentor's institution on the Signature page of the application indicates compliance that an institutional administrative process is in effect to identify and resolve conflicting financial interests of the type described in Subpart 50.604(a) with respect to all projects for which funding is sought from SAEM.
THE FINANCIAL AWARD
This award will provide two years of funding at $75,000 a year, commencing when the fellow is selected and begins training. Detailed budgets will be required. Funds must be used for salary, training or related infrastructure needs required to meet the training goals stated in the grant.
The award will be offered annually. The number of awards granted annually will depend on the quality of applications and status of endowment funds. Recipients are not eligible to receive a second award during the first grant period. Award extensions may be made at the discretion of the grants committee under certain circumstances. Award extensions will be evaluated on a case by case basis.
GRANT REVIEW PROCESS
The grants committee with the help of external reviewers will do the review of applications. The grants committee will then make recommendations to the board of directors regarding recipients. A scoring system considering the qualifications of the mentor, past record of achievement of the mentor and department, institutional facilities, institutional commitment, and overall curriculum will be assessed with the goal being to pick centers most likely to be able to train independent career investigators in Emergency Medicine.