Association for Academic Surgery (AAS)

AAS/AASF Henri Ford Junior Faculty Research Award

Application Now Closed

The Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) believes that diversity in experience and thought is essential for accomplishing critical changes needed in the field of academic surgery to adequately serve our communities and achieve health equity. Despite the rapidly changing ethnic and racial demographics of the United States, lack of diversity within the physician workforce – and particularly in academic surgery – remains a significant public health concern. We recognize our obligation to address this issue as we continue to deliver care to an increasingly diverse patient population. This commitment complements the mission of the Association for Academic Surgery Foundation (AASF) and led to the creation of the Henri Ford Junior Faculty Research Award named in honor of Dr. Ford, the first Black president of the AAS. Dr. Ford has set the bar for excellence in academic surgery and for this, we honor him.

Eligibility: 

    • Applicants must be active members of the AAS within their first five years of practice following residency, including those in surgical fellowships.
    • The awardee must not be a principal investigator on a NIH R01 or a VA Merit Review Grant and may not hold a career development type of award. This proposal may be submitted to other funding sources for support, but this must be acknowledged on the application form. Submission for support elsewhere will not affect the evaluation of this proposal.
    • In addition to clinical or basic science research pertaining to the field of surgery, submitted proposals may also address surgical ethics, education, epidemiology, biostatistics, and health care delivery.

Funding and Reporting Requirements:

The funding period: May 1st 2025 – April 30th 2026

Committee Review
A committee, consisting of the councilors of the AAS, president-elect, and ad-hoc members as needed, will review all proposals. The top-rated proposals will be selected as finalists, and these applicants will be invited to interview with the selection committee. The award recipient will be selected from these finalists and will be announced at the AAS Research Awards Ceremony.

Acceptance of Award

The winner will receive $50,000 for one year to be used for direct-cost expenditures incurred in the conduct of the proposed research project; the award may not be used for salary support. The project must be completed within the 1 year funding period. In the event that investigator is awarded another extramural award for which there is scientific or budgetary overlap with the other grant/award, the investigator will be required to accept only one source of funding. No indirect costs will be covered. The award certificate will be presented at the AAS/SUS Awards Ceremony during the 2025 Academic Surgical Congress. A one-page formal progress report for the research project and copies of pertinent publications resulting from the funding of the research award should be forwarded to the AAS office upon completion of the one-year research project. A final report and presentation of work accomplished will be required at the 2026 Academic Surgical Congress following the conclusion of the grant. No more than 10% of the funding may be used for travel – these funds will be expected to cover the cost of the awardee ASC presentation requirement.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applications must be submitted using the online submission site which will close Friday, August 30th, 2024 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.

Part 1: General information
Complete the General Information section, which includes your contact information, Institution information, etc.

Part 2: Project information
Complete the project information section, which includes project title, alternate funding sources, mentor information, etc.

Part 3: Supporting Documents
ALL DOCUMENTS MUST BE UPLOADED AS ONE FILE IN PDF FORMAT (REQUIRED). Grants which are incomplete or do not follow the page limits or formatting guidelines will not be reviewed. Applicants submit the following materials:

  • Cover Letter (Limit: 1 page) – Must outline your career development plan, short and long-term career goals, and plans for interacting with their mentors/collaborators
  • NIH-style Biosketch (Limit: 5 pages)
  • Comprehensive Research Plan (Limit: 5 pages) single-spaced, Arial 11pt, 1″ margin, excluding references. Must include:
    • abstract for research proposal
    • significance of research
    • background information
    • preliminary observations
    • experimental plan (methods, materials, potential limitations and pitfalls)
  • Budget (Limit: 1 page) – Brief budget justification. Must include 10% use for travel (see funding parameters listed above)
  • Letter from Sponsoring Research Mentor (Limit: 2 pages)
  • Letter of Support from the Chair of your Department (Limit: 2 pages)

Applications which exceed the page limitations WILL NOT BE REVIEWED.

APPLICATION NOW CLOSED

Inaugural Winner 2024-2025

Raymond A. Jean, MD, MA, MHS

Project: Incorporating Vehicular Data to Optimize Field Triage after Motor Vehicle Crashes

Raymond A. Jean, MD, MA, MHS graduated with an A.B. in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University. He went on to receive his medical degree from the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, where in addition to an M.D., he received a M.A. in outcomes research. He then completed his internship and residency in General Surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut. During that time, he also obtained a M.H.S. degree from the Yale School of Medicine. He then completed a fellowship in Trauma and Surgical Critical Care at the University of Washington’s Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, before joining the faculty in the Division of Acute Care Surgery at the University of Michigan.