AFAR: Beeson Ireland Program

Donate Gifts Sponsorship

The 2008 Paul Beeson Career Development Awards in Aging Research for the Island of Ireland
Sponsored by The Atlantic Philanthropies

The Program

Paul B. Beeson

This distinguished leader in medicine, who passed away in 2006 at the age of 97, exemplified the word "physician" - accomplished in the art of healing and the treatment of disease. His contributions as a scientist, clinician, and teacher have greatly expanded knowledge and understanding of the human condition, and in pursuing his work, he never lost focus on the importance of care in serving people. Dr. Beeson was Chairman of Medicine at Emory and Yale Medical Schools, Nuffield Professor at Oxford University and Professor and distinguished VA Physician at the University of Washington. He chaired the first Institute of Medicine study on "Aging and Medical Education" in 1978. His leadership as an editor of the Cecil Textbook of Medicine greatly influenced medical education. From his research and patient care base, he grew increasingly interested in the process of aging. This interest led to a commitment that included his editorship of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. He profoundly influenced the career paths of many young physicians, several of whom now form the core leadership in geriatric medicine. Dr. Beeson was, in short, a physician who exemplified the William Osler tradition of excellence.

Purpose

The Paul Beeson Career Development Awards In Aging Research Program offers faculty development awards to outstanding junior physician faculty committed to academic careers in aging-related research, teaching, and practice.

The goals of the program are:

To encourage and assist the development of future leaders in the field of aging by supporting faculty members early in their careers to gain additional research training as needed and to establish independent programs in aging research.
To deepen the commitment of research institutions to academic research in aging and to translating research outcomes to geriatric medicine by involving mentor and recipient in establishing and advancing the recipient's career in aging research.
To expand medical research on aging broadly defined as including the biology of aging, maintenance of health and independence in old age, diseases and disabilities of old age and issues in their clinical management, and systems of care for the elderly.

To date, the program has provided awards to 126 very promising junior faculty at institutions in the United States.

Background

The program was established in 1994 by The Atlantic Philanthropies, The John A. Hartford Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund and The Starr Foundation, and administered by the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR.) In 2004, The Atlantic Philanthropies, The John A. Hartford Foundation, The Starr Foundation and AFAR entered a partnership with The National Institute on Aging (NIA.) Until 2006, the program soley funded Scholars at U.S.-based institutions but beginning in 2007, with support from The Atlantic Philanthropies, Scholars are also funded in Ireland (The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.)

Currently, the supply of physicians having the combination of medical, academic and scientific training to serve effectively on medical school faculties in geriatrics and the many other specialties and subspecialties relevant to caring for older people is inadequate. In the next few decades, the number of older adults in the Ireland will nearly double, transforming its society and putting extreme pressure on its health care system. It is imperative that Ireland has the ability not only to provide high quality medical and supportive care to an aging Irish population, but also to develop the new scientific knowledge that ensures that we live longer, independently, and productively as well. Ireland continues to suffer a critical shortage of doctors well-trained to address the needs of an aging population. Equally important is the need to add outstanding scientists to those able to do research relevant to aging and clinical care. Although progress has been made over the past decade, further significant commitment is needed to train the future leaders in aging and geriatrics.

Eligibility and Application Procedures

One award of €339,390/£228,000 will be made in 2008. The scholar will receive a grant for three years. The salary will be at specialty registrar/clinical lecturer level to protect a minimum of 75% of the scholar's time for research, with the remainder available annually for research support, including an institutional overhead on the research support component.

Nominations for the Paul Beeson Career Development Awards In Aging Research Program are to be made by the deans of medical schools (or equivalent) in Ireland (the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.) Institutions may submit as many applications as they wish.

To be eligible for nomination, a candidate must:

be a physician who must be an Irish citizen of the Republic of Ireland, a UK citizen of Northern Ireland, an EU citizen living and working in the island of Ireland or a non-EU citizen resident in the island of Ireland with a valid work permit;
Commit at least 75% of his/her full-time professional effort to the goals of this award;
As this program is targeted at junior physicians, the candidate should have received his/her medical degree within 12 years of the start date of the award. Exceptions for health and family reasons may be considered but these need to be requested and justified in writing to AFAR no later than March 8, 2008. Individuals are encouraged to contact AFAR if they have any questions regarding eligibility;
Candidates should have undertaken research training and research to doctoral level, preferably having been awarded or soon to be awarded a PhD or equivalent.

For each scholar, a senior faculty member at the scholar's institution must be selected to serve as a mentor to help guide the scholar's research and career planning and provide access to organizations, programs, and colleagues helpful to the scholar's efforts. More than one mentor may be selected.

Letters of endorsement including specific information on institutional support for the scholar should be provided by the dean, the relevant department chairperson (or equivalent - may be one person), and the mentor. In addition, three letters of reference should be provided by other faculty members and/or senior professionals with whom the scholar has worked and who are well acquainted with his/her capabilities, potential, accomplishments, and commitment.

Selection Guidelines

Nominations will be reviewed and Scholars selected by the Program Committee, on the basis of:

the candidate's research skills and experience relevant to an academic research career in aging, a strong record of academic accomplishment including appropriate publications, and evidence of a career commitment to a leadership role in the field of aging research, education and clinical care
the quality and originality of a well-designed project consistent with the skills of the candidate in an area with potential to make clinically-important contributions to the health and medical care of older adults. The project may involve clinical research, basic biomedical research, biopsychosocial research, epidemiological, ethics-related, or health services research, or address other issues relevant to aging and geriatrics
a well-developed mentorship plan (may be from more than one mentor) which specifically outlines the candidate's expected professional career development
the commitment of the sponsoring institution demonstrating a supportive environment for the scholar and evidence of the institution's historical success in the area of research proposed

Typically, those candidates likely to succeed will have experience in the conduct of research projects since attaining their medical degree as well as specialist clinical training and will be able to demonstrate their potential to become an independent researcher going forward. In Northern Ireland, the candidate must have or nearly have completed a doctoral degree (PhD/MD) and be undertaking higher clinical training.

Submitting an application

All candidates must submit applications endorsed by the Dean of School of Medicine (or equivalent). Please refer to the Beeson instruction sheet and application for complete application procedures. Incomplete applications cannot be considered.

The deadline for receipt of all applications and supporting materials is January 22, 2008. The application and all additional materials must be emailed to beeson@afar.org no later than January 22, 2008. A hard copy of the cover page (page 1 of the application) with original signatures must be mailed to:

and must also be received no later than January 22, 2008.

Timetable

January 22, 2008: Deadline for receipt of completed applications
March 2008: Review of applications by the Program Committee
April 2008: Announcement of the 2007 Beeson Ireland Scholar
July 2008: Start date of the award

All inquiries should be addressed to:

beeson@afar.org

Reporting Requirements

Scholars will be required to submit a brief annual narrative report on the progress of their research and career plans. Sponsoring institutions will be required to provide periodic documentation of funds expended.

Program Management

Management of this program, including the application and review processes, distribution of funds, and annual auditing of scientific progress and use of funds, will be conducted by the American Federation for Aging Research, to which all inquiries and correspondence should be addressed. The program will convene an annual meeting of scholars, mentors, and other leaders in academic medicine and aging research to review research progress of scholars, encourage dissemination of their findings, and enhance development of scholarship and leadership. The 2008 annual meeting will be held June 19-22, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa at the Santa Ana Pueblo Reservation in New Mexico. The newly awarded Scholar is expected to attend this meeting. Please reserve these dates.

Program Committee Members/Island of Ireland

Robert Stout, MD Chair
Queen's University, Belfast

Program Advisory Committee Members/United States

Mary Tinetti, M.D., Chair
Yale University School of Medicine

Itamar Abrass, M.D.
University of Washington School of Medicine

Nir Barzilai, M.D.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Dan Blazer, M.D.
Duke University Medical Center

Christopher Callahan, M.D.
Indiana University School of Medicine

Harvey Cohen, M.D.
Duke University Medical Center

Laura Dugan, M.D.
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

Linda Fried, M.D., M.P.H.
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Thomas Gill, M.D.
Yale University School of Medicine

William Hazzard, M.D.
University of Washington School of Medicine

Edward Koo, M.D.
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

Lewis Lipsitz, M.D.
Harvard Medical School

Richard Loeser, M.D.
Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Alan R. Shuldiner, M.D.
University of Maryland at Baltimore School of Medicine

American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) | 55 West 39th Street, 16th Floor | New York, NY 10018
Phone: (212) 703-9977 | Toll-free: (888) 582-2327 | Fax: (212) 997-0330
E-mail: grants@afar.org or info@afar.org