Association for Academic Surgery (AAS)

The Geoffrey Dunn MD Research Award in Surgical Palliative Care

Application Now Closed

Purpose:
The intent of this award is to provide investigators the opportunity to pursue research interests, specifically germane to the field of surgical palliative care. Proposals may focus on symptom control in surgical patients, surgical decision-making, and communication among others as well as encompass any research approach (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, implementation science). Since the goal of the program is to support positive aspects of surgical palliative care, proposals focused on charged or divisive topics (e.g., physician-assisted suicide) will not be considered.

Eligibility:

    • Applicants must be active members of the AAS within their first five years of practice following residency, including those in surgical fellowships.
    • Proposals must focus on clinical or basic science research in the field of palliative care.  Submitted proposals may also address surgical ethics, education, epidemiology, biostatistics, and health care delivery.
    • Applicants must be active members of the AAS (Those with applications under review are eligible)
    • 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.

Funding and Reporting Requirements:

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

Committee Review

The Geoffrey Dunn MD Research Award in Surgical Palliative Care review committee will consist of AAS councilors and ad-hoc members from the AAS Research Committees (Basic and Translations Research Committee, Clinical and Health Services Research Committee, and select AAS members who are also members of the Surgical Palliative Care Society ). They will be responsible for reviewing and scoring the applications. The applicants with the top-rated proposals will be invited to interview with the committee prior to the the Academic Surgical Congress (ASC)* held annually in February. The award recipient will be selected from these finalists and will be announced at the AAS Research Awards Ceremony held on the last day of the ASC meeting.

Acceptance of Award

The winner will receive $20,000 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 30, 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) – The letter should also state that the award will not be used for salary support for the recipient

Applications which exceed the page limitations WILL NOT BE REVIEWED.

APPLICATION NOW CLOSED