Sponsored by the Merck Company Foundation
Administered by The American Federation for Aging Research

The dramatic extension of life expectancy in the past generation and the concomitant demands upon the medical profession to meet the increasingly complex health-care needs of older patients have spurred interest in geriatric medicine and especially in the role of clinical pharmacology as it relates to the care of the aged.

Within both academic and clinical circles there is a growing appreciation of the critical need to develop a cadre of physicians with a command of the emerging field of geriatric clinical pharmacology.

The Merck/AFAR Junior Investigator Awards in Geriatric Clinical Pharmacology has and will, it is hoped, encourage this development. The program, inaugurated in 1988, is funded by The Merck Company Foundation and administered by the American Federation for Aging Research.

Merck/AFAR Junior Investigator Awards

Two Junior Investigator Awards will be awarded in 2005. Each will provide $ 60,000 annually for two years. Funds may be applied to salary and related benefits of the Merck/AFAR Investigator and/or may be applied to the research, travel and other direct costs associated with the Award. No part of the grant may be used to meet institutional or departmental overhead or indirect costs. Winners of the Awards will be named on or about January 2, 2005 and funding will begin between July 1 and December 31, 2005, at the Investigator's discretion.

Eligibility

• The candidate must be board certified or eligible in a primary specialty by July 1, 2005. Proof of board eligibility must be submitted with the application.
• At the time of application, the candidate must be within four years of having completed postdoctoral or fellowship training.
• Previous training in geriatrics or clinical pharmacology is not required, but one or the other is highly desirable.
• Candidate must be a citizen or a permanent resident of the United States.

Application Procedures
Applications must be submitted by an institution on behalf of an individual candidate for the Merck/AFAR Fellowship. Institutions may submit multiple applications, but only one application per institution will be funded. The application form itself must be completed by both an official of the institution and the candidate it proposes. It must be accompanied by a letter of support from the mentor(s) and one from an individual who knows the candidate, the candidate's curriculum vitae and a NIH-style biographical sketch for the mentor(s). An original and four copies of the application and all supporting documents must be submitted. Completed applications must be postmarked no later than November 16, 2004. To request a grant application, see our Grant Applications page.

Selection Guidelines
The award is made primarily on the excellence of the training program outlines and the skills and commitment of the candidate.

Applications will be evaluated by AFAR's Selection Committee on the basis of:

• The individual candidate's ability, promise and commitment to a career in geriatric clinical pharmacology.
• The quality of the program outlined for training in geriatrics and/or clinical pharmacology, according to the candidate's prior training. The training inludes two parts of equal weight; each part should occupy about 1/2 of the candidate's time. One part is a research project. The other is overall training, which might include clinical practice, lectures, training courses, one-on-one mentoring, etc.
• The qualifications of the faculty member named as mentor to direct the work of the Merck/AFAR Investigator.

The proposed training program should provide the opportunity for a Merck/AFAR Investigator to acquire competency in clinical pharmacology, geriatrics/gerontology and research in geriatric clinical pharmacology. Those candidates with prior training in geriatrics would appropriately use the fellowship to obtain training in clinical pharmacology, and those with prior training in clinical pharmacology to gain expertise in geriatrics. It is expected that Investigators will obtain certification in geriatrics and/or pharmacology. Aspects of training would include, selectively:

• Clinical Pharmacology: Drug disposition and drug measurements, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic data analysis, epidemiology, clinical trial methodology and statistical methods.
• Geriatrics/Gerontology: Basic concepts of geriatric medicine, ethics and special concerns of clinical research in the elderly, clinical experience in acute care, long-term care, assessment and geriatric clinical pharmacology consultation settings.
• Geriatric Clinical Pharmacology Research: Can include drug interactions and adverse reactions, drug disposition and response related to aging, patient drug information and compliance, or appropriate disease specific research, e.g. hypertension, incontinence, depression, cognitive impairment, etc.

Reporting Requirements
The Merck/AFAR Investigators and the mentor directing the Investigatgor's work will be required to submit a brief narrative report at six months and a full report annually on the Investigator's progress.

Merck/AFAR Junior Investigators In Geriatric Clinical Pharmacology

1988-1990

Gary A. Ford, M.D., M.R.C.P.
Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford, California

Jerry H. Gurwitz, M.D.
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts

Stephen C. Montamat, M.D.
University of Washington School of Medicine
Veterans Administration Medical Center
Boise, Idaho

Bruce G. Pollock, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Western Psychiatric Institute
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1989-1991

Meghan B. Gerety, M.D.
University of Texas Health Science Center
San Antonio, Texas

Margaret A. Winker, M.D.
University of Chicago Medical Center
Chicago, Illinois

1990-1992

Deborah N. Goldner-Robin
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee

Eugenie L. Siegler, M.D.
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1991-1993

Kayla I. Brodkin, M.D.
University of Washington School of Medicine
Seattle, Washington

Mark Monane, M.D.
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts

1992-1994

Fred Kusomoto, M.D.
University of California
San Francisco, California

Dean L. Kellogg, Jr. , M.D., Ph.D.
University of Texas Health Science Center
San Antonio, Texas

1993-1995

Nabil Andrawis, M.D., Ph.D.
Brown University School of Medicine
Providence, Rhode Island

Susan Kalish, M.D.
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts

1994-1996

Adalsteinn Gudmundsson, M.D.
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin

Fouzia Laghrissi-Thode, M.D.
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1995-1997

Barbara A. Clark, M.D.
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts

Rahmawati Sih, M.D.
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
St. Louis, Missouri

1996-1998

Rebecca J. Beyth, M.D.
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Cleveland, Ohio

Daniel I. Kaufer, M.D.
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1997 - 1999

Tina V. Hartert, M.D.
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, Tennessee

Hoang Duong, M.D.
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
New York, New York

1998 - 2000

Edward S. Connolly, Jr., M.D.
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
New York, New York

Richard Lin, M.D.
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas

1999 - 2001

James Wendt, M.D.
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

2000 - 2002

Helen K. Edelberg, M.D.
Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Wesley Ely, M.D., M.P.H., F.C.C.P.
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

2001 - 2003

Arti Huria, M.D.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Cathy C. Lee, M.D.
University of Michigan

2002 - 2004

Cynthia Carlsson, M.D.
University of Wisconsin

Margaret Pisani, M.D.
Yale University

2003 - 2005

Joseph V. Agostini, M.D.
Yale University School of Medicine

Robert G. Riekse, M.D.
Seattle Institute for Biomedical & Clinical Research

2004 - 2006

Oumitana Kajkenova, M.D.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Josh F. Peterson, M.D., M.P.H.
Vanderbilt University

The Merck Company Foundation is a US-based, private, charitable foundation. Established in 1957 by Merck & Co., Inc., the Foundation is funded entirely by the Company and is Merck's chief source of funding support to qualified non-profit, charitable organizations. The Foundation's mission is to improve health care world-wide and advance biomedical and health sciences training and education. Since its inception, The Merck Company Foundation has contributed more than $340 million to address critical global health, education, environmental and other societal needs.

Complete listing of all AFAR Selection Committees.

Listing of all AFAR Award Recipients.

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