Five Year Mentored Career Development Award

Salary Support & Funding for Addiction Research Training and Career Development for Child & Adolescent Psychiatrists

Letters of Intent due January 5, 2010
Applications due March 30, 2010

Introduction
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is requesting applications for the AACAP Physician Scientist Program in Substance Abuse K12 award (2 K12 DA000357-11) sponsored jointly by AACAP and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The grant provides up to five years of salary support and mentored addiction research training for qualified child and adolescent psychiatrists (CAPs) who intend to establish careers as independent investigators in mental health and addiction research. Letters of Intent are required and due on or before January 5, 2010. Full applications are due March 30, 2010 with new grants awarded on June 1, 2010. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact program staff regarding the program and candidate qualifications before submitting Letters of Intent. (Contact information provided below.)

Eligible applicants must be a child and adolescent psychiatrist with a commitment and goal of becoming an independent investigator in addiction-related research focused on children and adolescents. Applicants must also be US citizens, noncitizen nationals, and/or individuals with permanent residence status. Women and minority candidates are especially encouraged to apply.

Background
In recognition of the dearth of child and adolescent psychiatrists with expertise in addiction research, NIDA and the AACAP have joined forces to create a research training program for a broad range of qualified CAPs applicants with a career goal of becoming independent investigators in mental health and addiction research. This announcement represents the beginning of the third consecutive 5-year funding period for the AACAP K12. The overall aims of the Program are: 1) to increase the number of child and adolescent psychiatrist career investigators in pediatric addiction research; 2) to foster creation of a collaborative network of investigators, mentors, and addiction research training centers; and 3) to expand research training opportunities in academic centers that currently have limited clinical and research training in addiction.

Applicants will design career development and research training programs together with their research mentors that will enable them to establish academic careers as independently funded investigators in addiction-related research in the basic science, clinical or translational research which may include: prevention, early intervention or treatment research; epidemiology; etiology; genetics, gene-environment interactions or pharmacogenetics; developmental risk factors; psychiatric comorbidity; medical comorbidity including HIV, Hepatitis C and STD risk reduction;, and Hepatitis C risk reduction; pathophysiology; services research; special populations (minorities, pregnancy, juvenile justice); health disparities; and imaging studies. Other areas of investigation related to pediatric addiction research will also be considered if the feasibility, significance and relevance to addiction research, and potential public health impact are clearly articulated and supported in the application.

APPLICATION PROCESS

1. LETTERS OF INTENT

Letters of Intent are required and must be submitted electronically along with a copy of the applicant’s CV to the AACAP Office of Research, Training and Education (research@aacap.org) on or before 5pm EDT January 5, 2010. All applicants submitting Letters of Intent will be contacted by the Program Director on or before January 25, 2010 to discuss the application and review process. The Program Director may also provide technical assistance in preparing the final application.

The Letters of Intent must not exceed four pages (no less than 11pt font) and should include the following information.

• A brief summary of the candidate’s previous clinical and research training.
• A brief summary of the candidate’s career goals, interest and commitment to an academic research career in an area of addiction-related research along with an overview of career development and training plans to achieve these goals.
• A statement of the candidate’s commitment to participate in required training and career development activities of the K12 throughout the funding period.
• A statement that the applicant’s Letter of Intent has been reviewed by the candidate’s Department Chair and his/her commitment to provide the necessary institutional support for research and office space, 75% protected time devoted to the training and career development activities of the AACAP K12, and salary support for the remaining 25% FTE throughout the K12 funding period.
• Identification of a potential suitable primary mentor throughout the training grant period. The primary mentor should be located at the applicant’s home institution but need not be a child and adolescent psychiatrist or general psychiatrist. Primary mentors must have a successful track record of mentorship and obtaining independent research support. If the primary home institution mentor does not have addiction research expertise, appropriate secondary research mentors and training rotations will need to be specified in the full application, but need not be specified in the Letter of Intent if not yet known. The K12 Program Director may offer technical assistance in linking candidates with appropriate secondary mentors and training institutions providing specialized research training, if needed.
• Full name and addresses, including home and office addresses, telephone numbers, fax numbers and email address.

Letters of Intent must be submitted electronically to research@aacap.org on or before 5pm EDT, January 5, 2010 along with:

1. A copy of the applicant’s CV;
2. Letter of support from the applicant’s primary mentor; and
3. A copy of the primary mentor’s CV.

Questions regarding the Program, Letters of Intent or preparation of applications should be directed to Paula Riggs M.D., K12 Program Director (paula.riggs@ucdenver.edu) or to the AACAP Office of Research, Training, and Education (research@aacap.org).

2. APPLICATION

Applications must be prepared using PHS 398 forms (Version 11/2007) following the instructions for the Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (PA-06-512, K08) or the Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (PA-05-143 K23) including sections addressing the qualifications of the candidate; career development and training plans; research proposal; letters of support from the candidates’ primary mentor and Department Chair http://www.nida.nih.gov/Funding/ResFundslist.html. The PHS 398 forms are available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398_ver1107/phs398.html.

Please note: The PHS 398 forms were revised as of 6/2009. We are requesting all applicants to use the PHS 398 forms version 11/2007. The 11/2007 version includes a 25 page narrative.

b) Support

The grant includes salary support for 75% of the applicant’s salary (not to exceed $90,000, plus fringe benefits) and $50,000 per year to cover research and training costs.

3. TIMELINE

• January 5, 2010: Letters of Intent Due
• March 30, 2010: Completed Applications Due
• May 11-15, 2010: Up to 6 K12 Scholars will receive notification of grant awards with funding starting June 1, 2010

Questions regarding the Program, Letters of Intent or preparation of applications should be directed to Paula Riggs M.D., K12 Program Director (paula.riggs@ucdenver.edu) or to the AACAP Office of Research, Training, and Education (research@aacap.org).