? This application is a request for partial funding to support travel grants for junior attendees to participate in the annual Professional Development Seminar (PDS) organized by Women in Nephrology (WIN) for the American Society of Nephrology (ASN). The PDS has been held yearly for the last ten years, and in 2006 the PDS will be held on November 15th, during the ASN Renal Week. The PDS encourages attendance of a diverse group of participants, including men, women, minorities and participants with disabilities. The main objectives of the PDS are: a) to provide insight into a successful career in the field of nephrology (clinical and research), b) to highlight qualities necessary to develop these career characteristics, and c) to prepare the attendees to identify and develop strategies for overcoming potential barriers to accomplishing career goals. The PDS is tailored to meet the needs of fellows and junior faculty (defined as junior attendees) wishing to pursue clinical and/or basic science research careers in the field of Nephrology. The one-day PDS program is divided in two sections: one section is targeted towards career development of early career nephrologists and Ph.D. scientists who aim to develop strategies to better manage their professional lives. Topics such as """"""""Writing Grants"""""""", """"""""Writing Articles"""""""", """"""""Managing a laboratory"""""""", """"""""Mentoring"""""""" and """"""""Networking"""""""" will be addressed. The second component is targeted to mid-career nephrologists or scientists considering administrative and leadership roles. This part emphasizes clinical, educational, research program building, financial management and interpersonal skills. This program offered by the PDS is of high relevance to the mission of the NIDDK, in terms of their aim to support career development in the field of Nephrology. The PDS brings together investigators that would not typically interact. For example, PDS invites speakers who are not only successful clinical and basic science researchers in the field of nephrology, but are also well known as successful mentors from academic institutions across North America. The PDS addresses current and cutting edge topics on career development in research and education. Speakers discuss funding initiatives, demand for academic positions, and statistics on women and minorities in leadership roles. The PDS is designed to promote the careers of future nephrologists, both clinical and research, and provides a forum where barriers are discussed. As such, this seminar is a unique opportunity for junior attendees to attain valuable advice and information on furthering their careers, a prime goal that is common to WIN, ASN and NIDDK. 1 The Professional Development Seminar (PDS) addresses current and cutting edge topics in career development, including basic and clinical research career paths in nephrology. This program also covers managerial and time management issues. PDS speakers are encouraged to include in their talks research that addresses the latest statistics on funding, initiatives, demand for academic and non-academic workforce positions, and numbers of minority and women leadership positions, for example. The increasing numbers of patients with chronic kidney disease, now reaching epidemic proportions, make it necessary to train more health care providers and researchers. In this application, the Principal Investigator and the organizing committee request funds to partially support travel grants for junior attendees to the PDS, and we present evidence that the leadership of the nephrology community, the Women in Nephrology leadership, the American Society of Nephrology leadership, and the nephrology community of trainees, practitioners and researchers see how the PDS serves an important function in the preparedness of the nephrology clinical, research and educational workforce. ? ?
