? ? This is an application for partial funding to support travel grants for fellows and junior faculty to attend the annual Professional Development Seminar (PDS) organized by Women in Nephrology (WIN). The PDS will be held on November 1st, 2007 during the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Renal Week. The PDS encourages attendance of both men and women participants and the main objectives of the PDS are a) to provide insight into a successful career in Nephrology, 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 their career goals. The PDS is designed to meet the needs of fellows and junior faculty (or """"""""junior attendees"""""""") wishing to pursue clinical and/or basic science research careers in the field of Nephrology. In addition, the goal of PDS is also to provide guidance for those who are interested in pursuing career in private practice or in industry. The one-day PDS program has two sections one of which is targeted to early career nephrologists and Ph.D. scientists who aim to develop strategies to better manage their professional lives, with workshops on writing articles, grants, networking and managing a laboratory. The mid-career nephrologists or scientists considering administrative and leadership rolesattend lectures on research program building, financial management, development of mentorship and interpersonal skills. In addition there are sessions on application processes to different research funding agencies. The PDS content is of high relevance to the mission of the NIDDK/NIH: The PDS supports career development in the field of Nephrology. The PDS brings together investigators from across North America that would do not typically interact, as organizers invite speakers who are not only successful clinical and basic science researchers in Nephrology, but also are successful mentors. The PDS speakers address ? current and cutting edge topics on career development in research and education, such as funding ? initiatives, demand for academic positions, and statistics on women and minorities in leadership roles. The PDS is designed to promote the careers Nephrologists, men and women, both clinician and researchers, and provides a forum where barriers are discussed and junior attendees attain valuable advice on furthering their careers, a common goal to WIN, ASN and NIDDK. ? ? ?
