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NIH Loan Repayment Programs: Supporting the Next Generation of Researchers


Virtual PreCon Event: August 25, 2022 / 2:00 – 3:30PM ET
NIH Loan Repayment Programs: Supporting the Next Generation of Researchers

Do you (or does someone you know) have student debt? If so, find out how you can get up to $100,000 repaid towards your student loans with a two-year award from the NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs).

This PreCon Event is designed for students, new researchers, and administrators/mentors who want to learn how biomedical and behavioral scientists with student debt can benefit from this program. In addition, participants will hear first-hand experiences from LRP Ambassadors on planning their grant applications.

One Registration. All-Access. No Cost. 
Register one time to gain access to all virtual preconference events, the 2-day conference, and valuable resources.

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Virtual Event Overview

Thursday, August 25, 2022
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM ET

One-Time Registration Required: NIHGrantsConference.vfairs.com
(If you have already registered on the NIH Grants Conference & PreCon Events website, then you do not need to register again!)

Log In: When the conference site opens in late August, you can join live events and explore the NIH Exhibit Hall with additional resources at Institute, Center, & Office Booths.

During this event, participants will explore topics, such as:
  • the six different extramural LRP subcategories and their purposes;
  • the general eligibility requirements;
  • the peer review process for LRP applications; and
  • personal LRP Ambassador experiences with the LRP application process.

Event Resources

Agenda

2:00 PM-2:10 PM

Welcome & Overview

*This event is scheduled in the Eastern Time Zone.

Moderator: Omar McCrimmon, M.A.,
Communications & Outreach Specialist,
NIH Office of Extramural Research

2:10 PM - 2:50 PM

LRP Overview & the Basics


Presenter: Matthew Lockhart, M.B.A.,
Director, NIH Division of Loan Repayment
NIH Office of Extramural Research

Topics of Discussion:
  • Overview (Eligibility and Programs)
  • Data and Statistics
  • LRP Application Components and Timeline
  • Resources

2:50 PM - 3:10 PM

Point of View: LRP Ambassadors

 

Presenter: Sarah R. Powell, Ph.D.,
Associate Professor, Department of Special Education
University of Texas at Austin

Presenter: Ismail Ahmed, Ph.D.,
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, New York University School of Medicine

Topics of Discussion: Tips for Writing a Competitive Application

3:10 PM - 3:25 PM

Q&A


3:25 PM - 3:30 PM

Acknowledgments & Closing

Moderator: Omar McCrimmon, M.A.
Communications & Outreach Specialist
Office of Extramural Research (OER), NIH

Presenter: Matthew Lockhart, M.B.A.
Director, Division of Loan Repayment
Office of Extramural Research (OER), NIH

Presenters

Click the image to view bios of each presenter.

Ismail Ahmed, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, New York University School of Medicine

Ismail Ahmed, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Robert Froemke's lab here at New York University. He is interested in how neuropeptides modulate neural circuits giving rise to complex behaviors, such as social behavior. Specifically, he is integrating his chemical biology expertise with classical neuroscience techniques to develop novel tools to understand better the neuromodulatory role of the neurohormone oxytocin in the context of rodent maternal behavior. His work is generously funded by an F99/K00 award through the National Institute of Mental Health and was recently awarded the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Enrichment Program Fellowship.

Matthew Lockhart, M.B.A.
Director, NIH Division of Loan Repayment, NIH Office of Extramural Research

Matthew Lockhart, M.B.A., is the Director of the Division of Loan Repayment (DLR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In this role, Mr. Lockhart is responsible for administering and providing leadership for the NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) as well as representing NIH on matters related to the operations, policy development and evaluation of the LRPs. Prior to this position, Mr. Lockhart served as a program analyst in DLR, where he provided process and policy guidance to Program Officers and Scientific Review Officers for the 24 NIH Institutes and Centers that participate in the NIH LRPs. Mr. Lockhart was also an architect of several policy papers and analyses that assessed the impacts of newly enacted legislation, such as the 21st Century Cures Act, on the NIH LRPs. Before coming to NIH, Mr. Lockhart led the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mr. Lockhart's academic background includes a B.A. in Mathematics from Gallaudet University and an M.B.A. in Organizational Management from the University of Maryland.

Omar McCrimmon, M.A.
Communications & Outreach Specialist, Office of Extramural Research (OER), NIH

Omar McCrimmon, M.A., a native Washingtonian, is the Division of Loan Repayment's Communications and Outreach Specialist. He joins DLR with over six years of experience in health/science communications. Prior to joining the DLR, Omar spent five years at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) where he managed media relations, social media, and the exhibit program. From there, he moved to the Alzheimer's Association where he played a role in managing public policy, and diversity program media relations. Mr. McCrimmon holds a B.A. in Journalism from Norfolk State University, and a M.A. from Trinity University.

Sarah R. Powell, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Special Education. University of Texas at Austin

Sarah Powell, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Ms. Powell is currently Principal Investigator (PI) of an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) efficacy grant related to word problems and equation solving for third-grade students experiencing mathematics difficulties. Ms. Powell is also PI of an IES efficacy grant related to multi-step word-problem solving at fourth grade. She is PI of the Teaching Early Math by Providing Language Exploration (TEMPLE) project funded by the T.L.L. Temple Foundation, PI of a Texas Education Agency network (Tiered Interventions using Evidence-based Research: TIER), co-PI of a National Science Foundation grant aimed at developing a science intervention for second-grade students with learning difficulties, co-PI of an Office of Special Education Programs model demonstration grant for middle school algebra readiness (Supporting Teaching of Algebra with Individual Readiness: STAIR), co-PI of an Office of Innovation and Improvement grant about kindergarten computational thinking through music, and co-PI of a EF+Math grant funded by the NewSchools Venture Fund (My Math Stories).

Ms. Powell was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2019. Ms. Powell's research interests include developing and testing interventions for students with mathematics difficulties, with a special emphasis on peer tutoring, word-problem solving, mathematics writing, and the symbols and vocabulary within mathematics.

Ismail Ahmed, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, New York University School of Medicine

Ismail Ahmed, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Robert Froemke's lab here at New York University. He is interested in how neuropeptides modulate neural circuits giving rise to complex behaviors, such as social behavior. Specifically, he is integrating his chemical biology expertise with classical neuroscience techniques to develop novel tools to understand better the neuromodulatory role of the neurohormone oxytocin in the context of rodent maternal behavior. His work is generously funded by an F99/K00 award through the National Institute of Mental Health and was recently awarded the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Enrichment Program Fellowship.

Matthew Lockhart, M.B.A.
Director, NIH Division of Loan Repayment, NIH Office of Extramural Research

Matthew Lockhart, M.B.A., is the Director of the Division of Loan Repayment (DLR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In this role, Mr. Lockhart is responsible for administering and providing leadership for the NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) as well as representing NIH on matters related to the operations, policy development and evaluation of the LRPs. Prior to this position, Mr. Lockhart served as a program analyst in DLR, where he provided process and policy guidance to Program Officers and Scientific Review Officers for the 24 NIH Institutes and Centers that participate in the NIH LRPs. Mr. Lockhart was also an architect of several policy papers and analyses that assessed the impacts of newly enacted legislation, such as the 21st Century Cures Act, on the NIH LRPs. Before coming to NIH, Mr. Lockhart led the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mr. Lockhart's academic background includes a B.A. in Mathematics from Gallaudet University and an M.B.A. in Organizational Management from the University of Maryland.

Omar McCrimmon, M.A.
Communications & Outreach Specialist, Office of Extramural Research (OER), NIH

Omar McCrimmon, M.A., a native Washingtonian, is the Division of Loan Repayment's Communications and Outreach Specialist. He joins DLR with over six years of experience in health/science communications. Prior to joining the DLR, Omar spent five years at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) where he managed media relations, social media, and the exhibit program. From there, he moved to the Alzheimer's Association where he played a role in managing public policy, and diversity program media relations. Mr. McCrimmon holds a B.A. in Journalism from Norfolk State University, and a M.A. from Trinity University.

Sarah R. Powell, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Special Education. University of Texas at Austin

Sarah Powell, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Ms. Powell is currently Principal Investigator (PI) of an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) efficacy grant related to word problems and equation solving for third-grade students experiencing mathematics difficulties. Ms. Powell is also PI of an IES efficacy grant related to multi-step word-problem solving at fourth grade. She is PI of the Teaching Early Math by Providing Language Exploration (TEMPLE) project funded by the T.L.L. Temple Foundation, PI of a Texas Education Agency network (Tiered Interventions using Evidence-based Research: TIER), co-PI of a National Science Foundation grant aimed at developing a science intervention for second-grade students with learning difficulties, co-PI of an Office of Special Education Programs model demonstration grant for middle school algebra readiness (Supporting Teaching of Algebra with Individual Readiness: STAIR), co-PI of an Office of Innovation and Improvement grant about kindergarten computational thinking through music, and co-PI of a EF+Math grant funded by the NewSchools Venture Fund (My Math Stories).

Ms. Powell was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2019. Ms. Powell's research interests include developing and testing interventions for students with mathematics difficulties, with a special emphasis on peer tutoring, word-problem solving, mathematics writing, and the symbols and vocabulary within mathematics.


Once logged into the virtual NIH Grants Conference Center, be sure to stop by the Exhibit Hall to visit the LRP booth's wide array of resources – view and download! On August 25 and the 2-Day Conference, the booth will be staffed and open for chatting with LRP experts.
Accessibility:
The NIH Office of Extramural Research strives to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage and participate fully. All presentations during the NIH Grants Conference and Pre-Con Events will include closed captions and ASL interpreters. In addition, look for this icon when navigating the virtual conference platform. It will allow you to customize the online conference pages to be more accessible based on needs.
Contact:

Event Questions and Special Requests: NIHGrantsEvents@nih.gov (Submit no less than 3 days prior to the event, if possible.)

Technical Issues: nihgrantsconference@getvfairs.io

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