02/25/13

New Scholar in Aging Award - Application Procedures

The objective of The Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar in Aging program is to support new investigators of outstanding promise in the basic biological sciences relevant to understanding lifespan development processes and age-related diseases and disabilities. The award is intended to provide new faculty with support during the especially critical first three years of their independent research career.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Structural biology
• Molecular genetics
• Studies with model systems ranging from lower eukaryotes to humans
• Inquiries testing the relevance of simpler models to human aging
• Genetic epidemiology of aging
• Candidate longevity genes
• Aging in the immune system
• Host defense molecules in aging systems
• Mechanisms of free radical induced cell aging
• Mechanisms of aging in various differentiated cell populations
• Gene/environment and gene/gene interactions
• Integrative physiology
• New approaches to age-modulated disease mechanisms

Overview

New Scholar awards are for up to $100,000 per year, total costs, for a four year period.

Please see the solicitation for complete information.

These awards are intended for investigators who are in the first three (3) years of their research careers following their post-doctoral fellowship experience. For the 2013 competition, nominees must hold regular full time appointments (tenure or non-tenure) on the faculty of the sponsoring institution by March 1, 2013; and they must have been in such an appointment, whether at the sponsoring institution or other institution(s), for no more than three years as of July 15, 2013, i.e. the first appointment having been made no earlier than July 15, 2010. Time spent in clinical internships, post-doctoral training, residencies, or in work toward board certification does not count as part of the three-year limit.

The Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholars may hold one other career development award from a private source concurrently for up to one year. This limitation is with regard to overlap of funding type, even in the absence of scientific overlap. Examples of conflicting career development or new faculty awards include, but are not limited to: American Cancer Society - Research Scholar; American Diabetes Association - Career Development Award or Junior Faculty Award; American Federation for Aging Research - AFAR Research Grant; Arnold & Mary Beckman Foundation - Young Investigator Award; Brookdale Foundation - Brookdale Fellowship; Burroughs Wellcome Fund - Career Awards Medical Scientist; Dana Foundation - Brain & Immuno-Imaging (Conventional or Cellular) Award; Hartford Foundation/Amer. Geriatric Society - Jahnigen Career Development Scholar or T.F. Williams Research Scholar; Hillblom Foundation - Hillblom Start-up Grant; Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation - Research Grant; March of Dimes - Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award; Pew Charitable Trust - PEW Scholar Award; Rosalind & Arthur Gilbert Foundation/AFAR - New Investigators Award in Alzheimer's disease; Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research - Kimmel Scholar Award; and Whitehall Foundation - Grants-in-Aid. New Scholar Awards will only be made for the full four-year term. If a conflicting award is accepted prior to the New Scholar Award, this must be resolved by either declining The Ellison Medical Foundation award or arranging to terminate the conflicting award within one year.

Associate Deans or Designates should submit the following materials electronically to limitedsub@austin.utexas.edu by Noon on Tuesday, December 11, 2012:

1. Dean's or ORU Director's Letter of Nomination
2. Two page maximum lay abstract describing the aims/needs of the proposed research project.
3. Short bio sketch/CV of the UT PI

Each college may submit one (1) nomination.

Evaluation

Nominees for the New Scholar Award are expected to have great promise as potential leaders of biomedical science with relevance to aging. Each nominee's potential for scientific innovation, leadership, and relevance to aging will be evaluated by the Aging New Scholar Review Group and the Scientific Advisory Board, based upon the nominee's research proposal, scientific contributions to date, and the reference statements provided by those who know the nominee and his/her work well. The quality and relevance of the nominee's publications and the importance to aging of the nominee's proposed research will be significant factors in the evaluation process. Depending upon the number of nominations submitted and the qualifications of the nominees, up to 25 New Scholars will be selected in 2013.

Dr. Boris Zemelman, College of Natural Sciences

Dr. Ning Jenny Jiang, Cockrell School of Engineering