Practice Research Training Fellowship

The American Brain Foundation is pleased to announce one two-year fellowship to support training in clinical practice research, which is defined as "clinical research that evaluates translation of evidence into best clinical practice." This may include evaluation of health services, quality of care, implementation of proven therapies, physician performance, or patient adherence. The fellowship is intended to create unique training opportunities, previously difficult to access for neurologists. The fellowship is supported by the AAN, the AAN Foundation, and the AAN Foundation Corporate Roundtable.

The fellowship will consist of a commitment of $55,000 per year for two years, plus $10,000 per year for tuition to support formal education in clinical research methodology at the applicant's institution or elsewhere. Supplementation of the stipend with other grants or by the fellowship institution is permissible, but fellows may not accept other fellowships, similar awards, or have another source of support for more than 50 percent of their research salary while holding an AAN Foundation Practice Research Training Fellowship. Only direct costs will be funded by this award.

ELIGIBILITY

  1. Research must be directed to care in the clinical neurosciences and must meet the definition of clinical practice research. For example, clinical trials of therapies would not meet the definition of clinical practice research but trials of methods to improve physician adherence to guidelines would.
  2. Must be an AAN member interested in an academic career in clinical practice research.
  3. Must identify a mentor who is a proven clinical practice researcher. This person does not have to be a neurologist, and the proposed research may be distinct from that of the mentor. For example, an expert in patient adherence or quality improvement in general medicine might be an excellent mentor for a fellow interested in studying these issues in the clinical neurosciences. Other appropriate mentors might include health services researchers, health economists, or health policy experts.

MATERIALS FOR APPLICATION

One complete set of the following application materials must be uploaded at the time of applying in order to complete the application process.

  1. Letter of nomination from the chair of the department of neurology, including assurance that clinical service responsibilities will be restricted to no more than 20 percent of the fellow's time.
  2. Three-page research plan, including brief statements of aims, background, and the contemplated approaches to methodology and data. The research plan should be written by the applicant and should represent his/her original work. However, the applicant is expected and encouraged to develop this plan based on discussion with the proposed mentor. It is appropriate for the proposed work to be specifically related to the mentor's ongoing research, but not required.
  3. Current curriculum vitae.
  4. Two letters of reference supporting the applicant's potential for a clinical, academic research career and qualifications for the fellowship. Letters of reference are in addition to the three-page research plan.
  5. Listing of the applicant's and mentor's current and pending support, other than this fellowship, using NIH format.
  6. Letter from proposed mentor detailing his/her support of and commitment to the applicant and the proposed research and training plan. The letter should specifically indicate the mentor's role in the development and preparation of the applicant's research plan. Letter should describe:
    • How the proposed research fits into the mentor's research program.
    • Expertise and experience in the area of research proposed and the nature of the mentor's proposed time commitment to the supervision and training of the applicant. Mentor's prior experience in the supervision, training, and successful mentoring of clinician scientists.
    • Demonstration of adequate inter-departmental coordination to best achieve the curricular goals of this fellowship program.
    • More than one mentor is permitted. One mentor should be designated as primary and be responsible for administrative issues.
  7. Proposed mentor's NIH Biosketch.
  8. Document describing arrangements for formal course work including: quantitative clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, study design, data analysis, and ethics. Please submit only one application. The review committee will consider your application for all of the applicable fellowships.