Pfizer Centennial Travel Award in Basic Science Tropical Disease Research Who: Individuals with doctoral-level degrees who seek travel to laboratories in the tropics to pursue studies in molecular, cellular or immunological aspects of tropical infectious diseases What: Financial support for 1-2 years research experience in the tropics to leverage further career development When: Application deadline – July 22, 2008 How: Submit the materials listed below Background ASTMH celebrated the 100th anniversary of its parent society in 2003. In honor of this anniversary, ASTMH created a Centennial Travel Award, sponsored by an unrestricted grant to the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene by the Pfizer Foundation. The purpose of the award is to facilitate international collaboration in basic science aspects of tropical infectious diseases and to provide interested physicians or scientists the opportunity to obtain hands-on field experience in combination with laboratory studies of, parasitic, bacterial or viral infectious diseases in endemic developing countries. The society feels that one way to stimulate interest in tropical infectious diseases and build international collaborations is to provide physicians or scientists an opportunity to work with these diseases in those parts of the world where the burden of disease is high. The award will be administered by the Centennial Travel Award committee, and will provide $25,000 to help defray travel costs and living expenses abroad. There is the potential for a second year of funding at a level of $25,000. The Centennial Travel Award recipient will be required to prepare a report describing his or her experiences, with the potential to be invited to make a presentation at the society’s annual meeting. Eligibility Full-time post-doctoral fellows (who already have Ph.D., M.D. degrees or the equivalent) with positions at U.S. or Canadian institutions who study any tropical infectious disease in one or more of the following disciplines or related areas: immunology, genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology and entomology. Co-mentors must be identified both at a North American institution and an overseas institution, and supported by a letter in which each co-mentor details locally available support, resources and availability for supervision (whether personally or by collaborating personnel). Applicants must be sponsored by an ASTMH member. The project should be carried out between December 2008 and September 2009. It is expected that a minimum of six months per year be spent at the foreign site. Selection Criteria Recipient will be selected based on academic credentials, recommendations, quality of proposal, feasibility of completing the project, potential for enhancing international collaborative possibilities, and demonstration of deep commitment in a career in international tropical infectious disease research. It is expected that the recipient will use this funding for career development and that he/she will prepare and submit a research career development grant application during the first year of funding. To be considered for a second year of funding, progress must be sufficient to demonstrate that the project is going well, and that a research career development grant application has been prepared and is ready to submit. Such applications will be considered competitively. Application Instructions Application deadline: July 22, 2008 Submit your application on line via link posted at http://www.astmh.org/funding/index.cfm beginning June 17, 2008. Collect all application materials prior to submitting them to the online awards system. Although you will be able to edit your award submission prior to the July 22 deadline, the submission process will be much easier if you collect all application materials prior to submission. Applications materials include: 1. Information from your curriculum vitae regarding education, training, work experience, prior research experience, any publications or abstracts, honors and awards. The application will solicit your institutional affiliation, department and specialty if applicable, student status, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address. 2. Research plan in a modified NIH grant format. Include the following information in the research plan: • Specific aim(s) with a brief and clear statement of a specific, testable hypothesis (1/2 page) • Background and significance, including how the project will lead to further research career development (1 page) • Preliminary data (it is not expected that preliminary data will necessarily be available) (1/2 - 1 page) • Experimental design and methods (2-3 pages) It is important that the project clearly describe how it will provide the basis of further career development, i.e. the data obtained from the supported project be the basis of NIH K08, K23, K01 or equivalent career development awards. 3. Letters of recommendation from the following mentors. The letters of recommendation should indicate which mentors are ASTMH members. • The North American faculty co-mentor, detailing local available support, resources and availability for supervision (whether personally or by collaborating personnel) • The overseas research co-mentor, detailing local available support, resources and availability for supervision (whether personally or by collaborating personnel) • A current or former teacher or supervisor who can attest to the academic and/or research abilities and potential of the applicant Please note that it will be considered important that these letters contain detailed, careful descriptions of infrastructure, additional financial support, intellectual, scientific and clinical environment, and other resources necessary for success of the project. Very important…These three individuals will be required to upload their letters (in pdf or Microsoft Word format) directly to your application site. The submission site will ask you to provide the name, mailing address, phone, fax and e-mail for each of these individuals. The submission program will then generate an e-mail to these individuals with instructions to upload their letters to your application site. It is very important that you gather the contact information for these individuals prior to beginning your online submission. It is then your responsibility to communicate with these three individuals to ensure that they have received the e-mail generated by the submission site and that they have uploaded their documents by the July 22 deadline. After July 22, any applications that do not include all three letters of recommendation will be considered incomplete and will not be forwarded to the review committee. Finalizing your application…After entering all information into your online application and after all document uploads have been made, go to the REVIEW SUBMISSION page and scroll down to the bottom. If all information has been entered correctly, you will see a drop-down menu at the bottom of the page. Select the response of COMPLETE in the drop-down menu and press SAVE. Your application will then be complete and ready for review. Review and Selection Process Recipient will be selected by the Pfizer Centennial Travel Award Committee. Recipient will be announced at the ASTMH 57th Annual Meeting in December 2008. Award will be made to the applicant’s home institution, which will be responsible for administering the funds. Reporting Requirements A research report is to be submitted near the end of the award year to info@astmh.org, in time for the report to be available to the selection committee prior to the ASTMH annual meeting. The recipient’s sponsor will be expected to see to it that the report is well-written and appropriately informative. Questions? Contact: ASTMH Pfizer Centennial Travel Award Committee, 111 Deer Lake Road, Suite 100, Deerfield, IL 60015 USA 847.480.9592 - Fax: 847.480.9282 - info@astmh.org - http://www.astmh.org