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National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), in collaboration with the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), intends to publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit applications for a national program of mentored research career development for junior emergency medicine (EM) faculty. Scholars will be selected from a nationwide cohort of candidates who are within their first or second faculty year and who practice clinically at institutions that support EM research. The goal of the program is to expand the cadre of physician-scientists trained in emergency medicine who will conduct research into neurological disorders associated with emergency department visits.

This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations, comprehensive plans and responsive projects. 

The FOA is expected to be published in Spring 2023 with an expected receipt date in June-July, 2023.

This FOA will utilize the K12 activity code. This K12 will be housed at the PD/PI's institution, but will support a national program, overseen by one or more PD/PI(s) and a national advisory committee. A maximum of one national K12 program will be supported.

Some details of the planned FOA are provided below.

This Notice encourages investigators with appropriate expertise and stature to begin to consider working with their institution to apply for this new FOA. Potential PD/PIs should be nationally acknowledged leaders in the EM research community, should have a history of prior and currently active, funded research, and should have a strong track record in successful training of clinician-scientists. Although not required, it is highly recommended that a multi-PI administrative structure be employed. If a multi-PI leadership structure is employed, applicants are encouraged to recruit a diverse pool of prospective researchers, including recruitment of individuals from underrepresented groups (see, e.g., Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity, NOT-OD-20-031) and with varying research areas or disciplines.

For the application process, PD/PIs will have to recruit approximately 12-15 members for a national advisory committee (NAC), all of whom should be acknowledged leaders in their field. The advisory committee should consist primarily of EM physician researchers but should also include leading researchers from other disciplines (e.g., neurology, neurosurgery and/or psychiatry, etc.) and ideally, at least one nationally renowned PhD scientist with an established record of successful research and training of clinician-scientists. The NAC must contain members with expertise in pediatric, adult and older adult EM research, as well as expertise in clinical trial design, statistics and ethics as it relates to clinical research projects. Applicants are encouraged to recruit a diverse pool of prospective NAC members including recruitment of individuals from underrepresented groups, with varying geographic distribution of current practice, and differing residency programs at which members were trained and scientific expertise. 

The purpose of the EMRCDP-NS program is to provide support for a period of mentored research career development starting in the scholar’s first or second faculty year, to facilitate the transition of EM clinician-scientists from mentored to independent research positions and to build networking and collaborative infrastructure within the EM community. The EMRCDP-NS will provide EM physicians with the experience, research support, mentorship and funding for up to 3 years that are necessary to initiate a vigorous, sustainable research program. Competitive EMRCDP-NS applications will be expected to have strong, active plans to recruit individuals from diverse backgrounds, including historically underrepresented groups such as individuals from nationally underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, and women (see NOT-OD-20-031, for additional details). It is expected, and programs must be designed to ensure, that EMRCDP-NS scholars will obtain NIH K awards, or equivalent funding, by the end of the K12 support period, or shortly thereafter. 

Training will occur under the guidance of local mentors at the scholar's home institution, which may be any institution in the U.S. that contains an Emergency Medicine Department (note that, although it houses the K12 grant, the institution that sponsors the K12 is just one among many institutions at which scholars might practice and train). Training will occur in two phases, a 3-year phase in which the scholar may be financially supported by this K12 award and a 2-year phase in which the scholar is expected to be provided with protected time for research by the scholar’s home department and have, or be pursuing, an individual NIH K award or other similar source of funding. 

The EMRCDP-NS will also support an annual meeting that will include a gathering of scholar-applicants, funded scholars, EM physician-scientists at a similar career stage, NAC members and other appropriate faculty. This meeting will serve as a forum to interview and select applicants for entry into the program and provide scientific, educational and career guidance, as well as serve as a focused opportunity for networking and community building. A critical goal of the EMRCDP-NS program is not only to promote success among the supported scholars but to grow the workforce of both junior and established EM researchers through widespread engagement of the EM community in the EMRCDP-NS program. The PD/PI(s) will be responsible for organizing and implementing this annual meeting.

This program will be similar in structure to the NINDS Child Neurologist Research Career Development Program (CNCDP; funded by RFA-NS-19-040) and the Neurosurgeon Research Career Development Program (NRCDP; funded by RFA-NS-21-019).

Investigators interested in applying in response to this FOA are encouraged to contact Dr. Stephen Korn, Director of the NINDS Office of Training and Workforce Development, with any questions.

Applications are not being solicited at this time. 

Stephen Korn, Ph.D.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Email: korns@ninds.nih.gov