Application Information

Application deadline November 1st, 2023

for Spring 2024 Workshop: April 12th-14th, 2024

To:  Department Heads and Directors of Training Programs with interests in Musculoskeletal Research

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The United States Bone and Joint Initiative (USBJI) is dedicated to raising public awareness and to increasing research of musculoskeletal diseases in the United States.  The burden of these diseases is high, and to reduce this through increased knowledge and improvements in care, a higher level of sustained research is needed.

The USBJI and Bone and Joint Canada offer a program with grant mentoring workshops to provide early-career basic and clinical investigators an opportunity to work with experienced researchers in our field to assist them in securing funding and other survival skills required for pursuing an academic career. This program’s metrics include a 55% success rate in obtaining funding.

This grant mentoring and career development program is open to promising junior faculty, senior fellows or post-doctoral researchers nominated by their department or division chairs. It is also open to senior fellows or residents that are doing research and have a faculty appointment in place or confirmed and have a commitment to protected time for research. Basic and clinical investigators, with or without training awards (including K awards) are invited to apply.

The unique aspects of this grant mentoring and career development program are the opportunity for attendees to maintain a relationship with a mentor until their application is funded, and the multi-disciplinary interaction which can lead to stronger research proposals.  

Investigators selected to take part in the program attend two workshops, 12-18 months apart, and work with faculty between workshops to develop their grant applications. Workshops take place in the Spring and in the Fall. Application deadline is July 28th, 2023. 

Application Instructions

To apply applicants must provide the following information.

1. Letter of nomination from the division or department chair, which must state:

  • a description of the candidate's work, and position;
  • whether the candidate is applying with or without a training grant;
  • confirm there will be internal institutional support for the candidate to pursue their research interests with protected time and resources to meet with the mentor;
  • a pledge to cover the costs for roundtrip airfare and accommodation for attendance at the two workshops, and the registration fee for the full program if the candidate is accepted; 
  • complete contact information for the applicant, the individual writing the nomination letter, and institutional mentor.

Fee schedule for the full program; $1000 if candidate is a member of an USBJI member organization and $1500 for non-members.  See lists of USBJI members here. The full program includes two Young Investigator workshops, with the participants spending two (2) days at each workshop.

2.  Letter from an institutional research mentor indicating the support this person is providing, or will provide, type of guidance, and outlining the plan for the mentorship including how he/she will provide support for the candidate's research project. If no institutional mentor is possible, the applicant should have a mentor in the same research area or with the ability to guide applicant, stating the mentor will meet regularly with the applicant.

3.  One- or two-page document with program title, and outline of a proposed grant application, to include the question, specific aims, and a brief description of research strategy, making sure to include applicant's name.

4.  Curriculum vitae of the applicant, to include complete contact details, discipline specialization and listing of publications. Alternatively, an NIH biosketch or NIH-style biosketch is welcome.

5.  Applications are due by November 1st, 2023.  

6.  The application should be submitted via the link below and the documentation listed above uploaded. Letters should be addressed to Nancy Lane, MD, Chair, Young Investigator Initiative.

 
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