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April
2002
Volume 66 |
Number
4
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| IARS
Wants You: Funding Opportunities in Anesthesiology Research |
Donald
S. Prough, M.D.
In 1983 the
International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS) established its
Research Awards Program, which to date has awarded more than $5.2
million to fund 89 projects in anesthesiology. The current IARS
Research Awards Program includes four distinct awards.
$500,000
Frontiers in Anesthesia Research Award. This award was created
"to foster innovation and creativity by an individual researcher
in the field of anesthesiology." The award recipient is selected
from applications submitted by anesthesiology departments (a maximum
of one per institution). An external advisory board, reporting
to the IARS Board of Trustees, reviews the applications. The applicant
must be a member of IARS and must be a member in good standing
in the sponsoring anesthesiology departments. Applicants are eligible
for this award during the 15 years following their first academic
appointment in anesthesiology (regardless of institution). The
proposed area of investigation must have direct relevance to the
specialty of anesthesiology. Candidates may have active peer-review
funding, but there can be no duplication with the proposal. There
are no restrictions in budget categories other than institutional
overhead, which will not be paid as part of the award. Deadline
for the 2003 Frontiers in Anesthesia Research Award is September
12, 2002.
$75,000
Clinical Scholar Research Award. This award was created to
further the understanding of anesthesiology and related sciences
in clinical practice through clinical investigations. Research
must involve human subjects or tissues. The maximum amount to
be awarded for any project is $75,000, paid in two equal annual
installments. Please note that institutional indirect expenses
are not funded. Up to three awards are granted each year. The
principal applicant must be a member of IARS and an investigator
with a research record who has yet to establish a history of substantial
funding. The awards will go to projects that are judged by peer
review to have high scientific merit and high probability of success.
Priority funding will be awarded to those proposals that are independent
of other extramural grant support. Experienced investigators working
in new areas will receive consideration. The proposed project
must have direct relevance to the specialty of anesthesiology.
The deadline for the 2003 Clinical Scholar Research Award is June
3, 2002.
$25,000
Ben Covino, M.D., Research Award. This award was instituted
in 1992 by Astra Pain Control AB Sweden in honor of the many contributions
made by Benjamin A. Covino, M.D., to the field of regional anesthesia.
AstraZeneca continues to fund this award. The award is given to
projects that primarily relate to the use of local anesthetics
in regional anesthesia, especially preclinical research. The deadline
for the 2002 Ben Covino Research Award was November 9, 2001. (The
name of the recipient, announced in March 2002 at the 76th IARS
Clinical and Scientific Congress in San Diego, California, was
not available by press time.) AstraZeneca has funded another award
for 2004. The deadline for the 2004 Ben Covino Research Award
has not yet been announced.
$5,000
Teaching Recognition Award. The purpose of this award is to
recognize an individual with outstanding teaching skills. The
2002 award offers $5,000 and includes $1,000 to the recipient,
a $4,000 grant to the recipient's institution to be used for education
in anesthesia, public recognition at the Congress Awards ceremony
held during the IARS 77th Congress in New Orleans, Louisiana,
round-trip coach airfare to New Orleans, complimentary meeting
registration and per-diem for two days. To qualify, applicants
must be a member of IARS and have at least three years of faculty
experience. Deadline for the 2002 Teaching Recognition Award is
May 1, 2002.
Award applications
are available on the IARS Web site www.iars.org
or by contacting the IARS headquarters at (216) 642-1124.
In addition
to the IARS Research Awards Program, IARS is excited to announce
the creation of an academic research organization named Global
Perioperative Research Organization (GPRO). Mark F. Newman, M.D.,
will direct this organization together with Lee A. Fleisher, M.D.,
who will serve as co-medical director.
GPRO is an
academic research organization that integrates the scientific
thought leadership of IARS and Duke Universityıs Clinical Research
Institute (DCRI) as well as the operational capabilities of DCRI
to develop and share knowledge that improves the care of patients
around the world through innovative clinical research. The research
will focus on the entire perioperative period, including pain
management, critical care medicine and long-term outcomes assessment.
Through collaboration with the DCRI, GPRO has capabilities in
site management, data management, statistics and communications
to conduct large multicenter clinical trials. GPRO can deliver
added value through a combination of key investigators (thought
leaders) in the early development process and full coordinating
center capabilities for clinical trials.
Dr. Newman,
the medical director of GPRO, is professor and chair of the department
of anesthesiology at Duke University Medical Center. He is an
active clinical investigator and holds many current national grants,
including multiple awards from NIH and the American Heart Association
(AHA). Dr. Newman's research focus was initially on perioperative
outcomes in cardiac surgery but has expanded to noncardiac surgery
with well-developed, sustained relationships with industry sponsors.
Dr. Fleisher,
co-medical director of GPRO, is an associate professor and vice-chair
for clinical investigations for the department of anesthesiology
and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
He is an active clinical investigator and holds current national
grants, including Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation and IARS
funding. His primary areas of research are related to technology
assessment and prediction of risk and preoperative evaluation
of surgery. He has been involved in the area of preoperative cardiac
evaluation for noncardiac surgery and has been a member of the
AHA/American College of Cardiology Task Force that wrote the "Guidelines
on Perioperative Cardiovascular Evaluation."
There are
many ways that a clinician can get involved with GPRO. We offer
opportunities to participate in scientifically important research
that provides patients with access to novel therapies, the support
of experienced research professionals who understand the perspective
and needs of site personnel, site-friendly CRFs and study materials,
around-the-clock access to clinical support and regulatory compliance
expertise. Below are a few key areas of interest:
1. Leadership
in National Multicenter Investigations. Clinicians will have
the opportunity to actively participate in the recruitment of
trials and protocol development, address issues related to data
quality, enrollment progress and study timelines, and provide
hotline assistance and input to the chair of the publication committee.
For multicenter industry and agency proposals, the clinician will
contact GPRO with a five-page concept sheet outlining the study
design, enrollment and study population, purpose, primary and
secondary endpoint, timeline and background. This information
will be reviewed to ensure that the proposal fits the academic
mission and then will be discussed with investigators.
2. Investigative
Site. As an investigative site, you will have the opportunity
to bring cutting-edge research to your patients and participate
in answering important questions to improve patient care. As a
top enrolling investigative site, a clinician also will have the
opportunity to serve on publication committees.
3. Continuing
Medical Education (CME). GPRO is interested in educating clinicians
in good clinical practices and innovative research. At the IARS
76th Clinical and Scientific Congress in March, GPRO sponsored
a Good Clinical Practice Workshop focusing on trial phases, regulatory
issues and design of a good clinical trial. We are hoping to make
this an ongoing event at the Congress and welcome other initiatives
for CME activities. One of our long-term goals as an organization
is to offer a fellowship in clinical research development and
take advantage of the Clinical Research Training Program offered
in conjunction with Duke University.
GPRO will
recruit a broad-based group of international perioperative clinical
investigators from the multiple subspecialties of anesthesiology.
This group will have the necessary insight into the pressing clinical
issues and industry opportunities within each respective area.
For each clinical trial, whether industry- or agency-funded, a
steering committee of the trial principal investigator, medical
director, operations manager and the five top enrolling sites
would be created. This group also would serve as a publication
committee for each of these clinical trials pursuant to the terms
of the sponsor agreement.
If you are
interested in learning more about GPRO's capabilities or opportunities
of site recruitment, please call Operations Manager Nancy Newark
toll free at (866) 536-0568 or e-mail GPRO@onyx.dcri.duke.edu.
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Donald
S. Prough, M.D., is Professor and Chair, Rebecca Terry White
Distinguished Chair, Department of Anesthesiology, University
of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. |
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