2018 AUA EARLY-CAREER INVESTIGATORS WORKSHOP ABSTRACT/PROJECT SUMMARY The 2018 American Urological Association (AUA) Early-Career Investigators Workshop will be held October 11-13, 2018 at the headquarters of the American Urological Association (AUA) in Linthicum, Maryland, near the Thurgood Marshall-BWI Airport. The meeting is intended to provide intense and individualized instruction for a small group of 35 MD and PhD early-career investigators and late-stage trainees on how to prepare innovative and competitive research grant applications, primarily to the NIH. The program is specifically designed to allow one-on-one and small-group instruction that will be provided by NIH-funded senior scientists and other advisors. This advising will be customized to best fit the needs of the individual applicant and the range of proposed research applications that will be presented at the meeting. This workshop will provide a catalyst to increase the quality of urologic research grant proposals submitted to the NIH, with particular emphasis on those submitted to the NIDDK and NICHD. Based on previous workshops. More than half of the attendees intend to conduct their research in areas associated with non-cancer urology research. The workshop continues the long-range strategic vision of the AUA to provide a series of workshops that will be devoted to grant writing, career development, and developing an integrated community of urologic investigators to support interdisciplinary research. The Principal Investigator (PI), Carolyn Best, PhD, is the Director of Research for the AUA. The Steering Committee consists of leaders in urologic research, some of whom are PIs on NIDDK Multidisciplinary K12 Urologic Research (KURe) Career Development Programs: Aria Olumi, MD (Chair); Rosalyn Adam, PhD; Cindy Amundsen, MD; Linda Baker, MD; Wade Bushman, MD, PhD; Peter Clark, MD, Toby Chai, MD; Stephen Freedland, MD; Michael Hsieh, MD, PhD; Dolores Lamb, PhD; John Wei, MD, MS; and Erika Wolff, PhD. All committee members and advising faculty possess exemplary records in extramural research funding and training of residents and pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellows. The Early-Career Investigators Workshop will take place over 2 days. A key session of the meeting will take place on day two when the faculty advisors will meet individually with each of the participants and conduct ongoing critical evaluations of their grant applications. The team of advisors that will meet with each attendee will be customized based on the scientific area, specific aims and methodologies of the proposed research. The program will include keynote addresses, presentations on many of the key facets of grant writing, including, ?Identifying & Composing the Pieces of a Successful Research Grant Proposal,? ?Selling Yourself Through Your NIH Biosketch,? and ?Establishing Effective Career Development Goals and Translation to Your Training Plan.? Talks on negotiations, collaborations, project management, mentoring and career development from successful senior and mid-career investigators will also be presented. One of the most valued sessions from past workshop has been the Mock Review Panel session, in which senior advisors with substantial experience on NIH study sections will conduct mock critiques on previously NIH-reviewed, and subsequently de-identified, grant applications.
2018 AUA EARLY-CAREER INVESTIGATORS WORKSHOP PROJECT NARRATIVE/ PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE STATEMENT This application seeks support to enable the American Urological Association (AUA) to invite early- career investigators (and late-stage trainees) to participate in a proven, impactful workshop (AUA Early- Career Investigators Workshop, October 11-13, 2018) that provides an intensive grant writing curriculum, in-depth evaluation of grant applications in preparation for submission, instruction from senior scientific advisors in one-on-one and small group settings, and instruction in other essential elements of a successful research career. This workshop is part of a major effort by the AUA to develop an enduring urology-wide program devoted to improving the number and quality of urology research grant applications submitted to the NIH, which has identified a critical deficiency in the pipeline of surgeon-scientists and other urology investigators. Without intervention by the AUA in the attrition from research of urology surgeon- scientists and the basic science researchers that can participate in urology team science, the development of improvements in urology patient diagnosis, treatment, and hopefully cures, will be further stalled, if not eliminated, at a time when the number of patients with urologic diseases and conditions is rapidly growing.
