SOCIETY OF ’67  ▷  PROGRAMS  ▷  TRAINEE GRANTS
 

Purpose

The Society of ’67 Pathology Trainee Project Grants in Health Services Research and Education fund innovative projects that are relevant to health services research or education, including but not limited to healthcare quality, costs, and/or access related to pathology services.

Description

The Society of ’67 of the Association of Pathology Chairs (APC) is pleased to offer a grant program for pathology trainees (medical students, residents, fellows) in Pathology Health Services. Grants will fund innovative projects that are relevant to health services research or education, including but not limited to healthcare quality, costs, and/or access related to pathology services. Two categories of grants will be considered: Research and Education. Funding is up to $5,000 for one (calendar) year.

• Research Project Grants: To investigate a question and/or to develop a technology in pathology/lab medicine services that improves healthcare quality, cost, or access.
• Education Project Grants: To develop an educational program or offering in pathology/lab medicine services focused on improving healthcare quality, cost, or access.

Eligibility Information

Eligible applicants must be either: 

• A medical student at an APC member institution. 
• A resident in an ACGME accredited pathology residency program at an APC member institution. 
• A fellow in a pathology subspecialty program or a postdoctoral certification program at an APC member institution.

Applicants must have a faculty sponsor/advisor who is a full-time faculty member in the Pathology Department (APC member department) at their institution. If invited to submit a full proposal, applicants must also have a letter of sponsorship/recommendation from the Chair of the Pathology Department (for medical students) or Program Director of the pathology training program at their institution (for residents/fellows). For the purposes of this grant award program, the eligible applicant must be listed as the principal investigator.

About the Program

• Review an Information/Q&A Session recorded in September 2022 to hear about the program from past award recipients, a Society of '67 Board member, and the program administrator.
• Learn more about Health Services Research in a guest editorial by Dr. Fred Sanfilippo published in the American Journal of Pathology (2014).

Letter of Intent

Interested applicants must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) application via this online form. Click here to preview a PDF of the application, but LOIs must be submitted by the online form. Only one LOI per applicant is permitted. LOI applications must be submitted no later than 10:00am ET on Monday, October 2, 2023. LOIs will be screened and all applicants will be notified of the review committee's decision the week of October 23, 2023. Only applicants whose LOI demonstrates alignment and value to health services research or education will be invited to complete a full proposal and application, which must be submitted no later than 10:00am ET on Monday, November 27, 2023. Details on the application format and process will follow for successful LOI applicants who are invited to submit a full proposal.

Funding Restrictions

• Funds may be used for data collection and analysis, supplies, equipment, and technical support that are directly related to the conduct of the project.
• Funds will not be allowed for salary support of university faculty, hospital medical/nursing staff, or student stipends.
• Budget should include direct costs only.
• Funding of applicants whose relevant certifications have not been provided within the first 3 months of the project may be rescinded. Funds will not be transferred until relevant certifications (CITI, IRB, etc.) are provided.
• Funding will be transferred to the pathology department, not an individual, for the faculty advisor/mentor's responsibility in the appropriate use by the investigator.

Review Criteria

The major criteria for evaluation by the review committee will be the creativity, quality, and potential impact of the project. The following criteria will be included in the review committee's assessment: 

• Project Plan of Action, including methods to measure potential outcomes
• Significance, potential impact in pathology and healthcare delivery
• Innovation
• Collaboration (the extent of inter-disciplinary and inter-organizational collaboration)
• Potential for success
• Requisite skills and experience of applicant and faculty advisor
• Budget (cost-effectiveness and availability of any additional support/matching funds)
• Likelihood of completion in the time frame proposed
• Potential for success

Award Administration Information

• Award Notices: Award notices for projects in 2024 will be issued from the Society of '67 the week of December 18, 2023.
• Reporting: All awardees are required to submit to the Society of '67: (1) a mid-term progress report (at the halfway point of the projected timeline in the proposal, and (2) a final report due no later than 30 days past the award period end date. Failure to submit a timely progress report may result in departmental exclusion from future award opportunities and support. The APC Society of ’67 reserves the right to contact awardees/sponsors periodically to continue tracking progress and outcomes of the resulting awards.
• Publicity: Information about grants awarded under this program will be posted on the APC website. Applicants must agree to acknowledge the APC Society of ’67 in any website, journal publications, presentations, future grant applications, and/or invention disclosures that result from this award. Citation information will be provided in the Notice of Award.

Deadlines

• October 2, 2023 by 10:00am (ET) - Letter of Intent Deadline - Apply via this online form linked HERE. 
• Week of October 23 2023 - Notifications/Invitation for Full Proposal
• November 27, 2023 by 10:00am (ET) - Full Proposal Deadline
• Week of December 18, 2023 - Final Notifications

Questions?

Requests for additional information and questions may be directed to [email protected] - Melvin Limson, PhD, Director of Programs & Development, Association of Pathology Chairs. Phone: 302.660.4944. 

Awardees for Projects in 2023:

Research Projects:

• Zhengchun Lu, MD, PhD (and Guang Fan, MD, PhD), Oregon Health & Science University, Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Flow Cytometry
• Tasnuva Rashid, MD, PhD (and Anwer Siddiqi, MD), University of Florida, Jacksonville, Telepathology Feasibility and Validity Study
• Saba Shafi, MD (and Zaibo Li, MD, PhD), The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, HER2 GPA in HER2 Low Breast Cancers

• Zhenwei Zhang, MD, PhD (and Vijay Vanguri, MD), UMass Memorial Medical Center, Automated Pathology Data Collection System

• Meagan Chambers, MD, MS, MSc (and Alex Williams, MD), University of Washington, The Autopsy Book
• Ty Chiaro, PhD, MS (and John Schmitz, PhD, MS), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Clinical Utility of the Anti-Nuclear Antibody
• Jamie Kendrick, MD (and Judith Aronson, MD), University of Texas Medical Branch, Gender-Informed Death Documentation
• Jung Woo Kwon, MD (and Nicole Cipriani, MD), University of Chicago, Pathology Guide for Clinicians/Students
• Brianna Waller, MD (and Joanna Conant, MD), University of Vermont Medical Center, Anemia Cascade Care Pathway Development

Awardees for Projects in 2022:

• Shuyu E, MD, PhD (and Lauren King, MD), University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Alloimmunization after Transition to Adult Care for Patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD)
• Abhinav Grover, MBBS, MD, MS (and Tamara Giorgadze, MD, PhD), Medical College of Wisconsin, Reducing racial disparities in cervical cancer: Assessment of factors affecting vaccination rates, access to cytology and human papillomavirus (HPV) screening with histopathological correlation
• Alexander Ladenheim, MD (and Nam Tran, PhD), University of California Davis Health, Removing Race from the Calculation of eGFR: Outcomes
• Kellie Mullany (and Samar Hegazy, MD, PhD), The Carle Illinois College of Medicine, Bridging the gap of pathophysiology and social determinants of health in medical education: A study on student learning of disease pathogenesis and its relation to social determinants of health using concept maps
• Mesut Toprak, MD (and Lynne Opitz, MD), Northwell Health Staten Island University Hospital, Development of an online training module to reduce blood product wastage

Awardees for Projects in 2021:

• Jhun Iny, MD, ScD (and Vivek Charu, MD, PhD), Stanford University, Long-term trends and geographic variation in the utilization of liver biopsies in pediatric inpatients in the United States, 2007-2017
• Cullen Lilley, MS, medical student (and Kamran Mirza, MD, PhD), Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, PathElective as Curricular Adjunct

Awardees for Projects in 2020:

• Kelsey Hummel, DO (and Kenneth Muldrew, MD, MPH), Baylor College of Medicine, Prevalence Rates and Antibiotic Resistance Prevalence in Pregnant Patients 
• Jenny Weon, MD, PhD (and Bret Evers, MD, PhD), University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Spanish Autopsy Guide

Awardees for Projects in 2019:

In December 2018, the inaugural Pathology Trainee Project Grants for 2019 were awarded. The project description as described in their letters of intent are linked on the project titles below.