Paul B. Beeson

Purpose

The Paul Beeson Career Development Awards In Aging Research Program offers faculty development awards to outstanding junior physician faculty committed to academic careers in aging-related research, teaching, and practice.

The goals of the program are:

• To encourage and assist the development of future leaders in the field of aging by supporting faculty members early in their careers to gain additional research training as needed and to establish independent programs in aging research.
• To deepen the commitment of research institutions to academic research in aging and to translating research outcomes to geriatric medicine by involving mentor and recipient in establishing and advancing the recipient's career in aging research.
• To expand medical research on aging broadly defined as including the biology of aging, maintenance of health and independence in old age, diseases and disabilities of old age and issues in their clinical management, and systems of care for the elderly.

To maximize the educational/training opportunities of this fellowship program, Beeson Ireland Scholars are encouraged to spend three to six months abroad with a research team in the U.S. in the second or the third year of the award. The goals of this rotation are varied and can be for purposes of training in techniques, data collection, data analyses, etc. to enhance the Scholars' transition to independence. This is unique to the Beeson Ireland Program.

Background

The program was established in 1994 by The Atlantic Philanthropies, The John A. Hartford Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund and The Starr Foundation, and administered by the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR.) In 2004, The Atlantic Philanthropies, The John A. Hartford Foundation, The Starr Foundation and AFAR entered a partnership with The National Institute on Aging (NIA.) Until 2006, the program soley funded Scholars at U.S.-based institutions but beginning in 2007, with support from The Atlantic Philanthropies, Scholars are also funded in Ireland (The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.)

Currently, the supply of physicians having the combination of medical, academic and scientific training to serve effectively on medical school faculties in geriatrics and the many other specialties and subspecialties relevant to caring for older people is inadequate. In the next few decades, the number of older adults in the Ireland will nearly double, transforming its society and putting extreme pressure on its health care system. It is imperative that Ireland has the ability not only to provide high quality medical and supportive care to an aging Irish population, but also to develop the new scientific knowledge that ensures that we live longer, independently, and productively as well. Ireland continues to suffer a critical shortage of doctors well-trained to address the needs of an aging population. Equally important is the need to add outstanding scientists to those able to do research relevant to aging and clinical care. Although progress has been made over the past decade, further significant commitment is needed to train the future leaders in aging and geriatrics.

Eligibility and Application Procedures

One award of €339,390/£228,000 will be made in 2009. The scholar will receive a grant for three years. The salary will be at specialty registrar/clinical lecturer level to protect a minimum of 75% of the scholar's time for research, with the remainder available annually for research support, including an institutional overhead on the research support component.

Nominations for the Paul Beeson Career Development Awards In Aging Research Program are to be made by the deans of medical schools (or equivalent) in Ireland (the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.) Institutions may submit as many applications as they wish.

To be eligible for nomination, a candidate must:

• Be a physician who must be an Irish citizen of the Republic of Ireland, a UK citizen of Northern Ireland, an EU citizen living and working in the Island of Ireland or a non-EU citizen resident in the island of Ireland with a valid work permit;
• Commit at least 75% of his/her full-time professional effort to the goals of this award;
• Be a medical graduate who has recently completed or is about to complete a doctoral degree (PhD/MD) and be undertaking or have recently completed higher clinical training;
• Have at least one research publication in a high-impact journal. If the candidate is not the first author, he/she must provide a short description of his/her contribution to the research and the writing of the paper; this should be substantial.

For each scholar, a senior faculty member at the scholar's institution must be selected to serve as a mentor to help guide the scholar's research and career planning and provide access to organizations, programs, and colleagues helpful to the scholar's efforts. More than one mentor may be selected.

Letters of endorsement including specific information on institutional support for the scholar should be provided by the dean, the relevant department chairperson (or equivalent - may be one person), and the mentor. In addition, three letters of reference should be provided by other faculty members and/or senior professionals with whom the scholar has worked and who are well acquainted with his/her capabilities, potential, accomplishments, and commitment.

Selection Guidelines

Nominations will be reviewed and Scholars selected by the Program Committee, on the basis of:

• the candidate's research skills and experience relevant to an academic research career in aging, a strong record of academic accomplishment including appropriate publications, and evidence of a career commitment to a leadership role in the field of aging research, education and clinical care;
• the quality and originality of a well-designed project consistent with the skills of the candidate in an area with potential to make clinically-important contributions to the health and medical care of older adults. The project may involve clinical research, basic biomedical research, biopsychosocial research, epidemiological, ethics-related, or health services research, or address other issues relevant to aging and geriatrics;
• a well-developed mentorship plan (may be from more than one mentor) which specifically outlines the candidate's expected professional career development;
• the commitment of the sponsoring institution demonstrating a supportive environment for the scholar and evidence of the institution's historical success in the area of research proposed.

Typically, those candidates likely to succeed will have experience in the conduct of research projects since attaining their medical degree as well as specialist clinical training and will be able to demonstrate their potential to become an independent researcher going forward.

Submitting an application

All candidates must submit applications endorsed by the Dean of School of Medicine (or equivalent). Please refer to the Beeson instruction sheet and application for complete application procedures. Incomplete applications cannot be considered.

The deadline for receipt of all applications and supporting materials is January 22, 2009. The deadline for the 2009 program has passed. The 2010 guidelines will be available in the fall.

January 22, 2009: Deadline for receipt of completed applications
March 2009: Review of applications by the Program Committee
April 2009: Announcement of the 2009 Beeson Ireland Scholar
July 2009: Start date of the award

All inquiries should be addressed to:

American Federation for Aging Research
55 West 39th Street, 16th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10018
Phone: 212-703-9977
Fax: 212-997-0330
e-mail: beeson@afar.org

Reporting Requirements

Scholars will be required to submit a brief annual narrative report on the progress of their research and career plans. Sponsoring institutions will be required to provide periodic documentation of funds expended.

Program Management

Management of this program, including the application and review processes, distribution of funds, and annual auditing of scientific progress and use of funds, will be conducted by the American Federation for Aging Research, in collaboration with CARDI (the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland). The program will convene an annual meeting of scholars, mentors, and other leaders in academic medicine and aging research to review research progress of scholars, encourage dissemination of their findings, and enhance development of scholarship and leadership. The 2009 annual meeting will be held June 11 - 14, 2009 at The Grand Geneva Resort at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The newly awarded Scholar is expected to attend this meeting. Please reserve these dates.

Edward Koo, MD, Chair
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

Itamar Abrass, MD
University of Washington School of Medicine

Nir Barzilai, MD
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Christopher Callahan, MD
Indiana University School of Medicine

Laura Dugan, MD
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

Thomas Gill, MD
Yale University School of Medicine

William Hazzard, MD
University of Washington School of Medicine

Mark Lachs, MD
Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Lewis Lipsitz, MD
Harvard Medical School

Richard Loeser, Jr., MD
Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Alan R. Shuldiner, MD
University of Maryland at Baltimore School of Medicine

Kristine Yaffe, MD
University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine