13th RCMI International Symposium on Health Disparities

Travel Awards

Eligibility | Selection Process | Awardee Notification

Purpose of the Award

Many junior investigators and post-doctoral fellows within the RCMI Programs at the 18 RCMI grantee institutions do not have independent grants that include travel funds to attend major meetings, such as the RCMI International Symposium. Recent increases in airfare costs have exacerbated an already tenuous situation, making the provision of travel funds to junior faculty and post-doctoral fellows highly desirable. Through a supplement to the U13 symposium grant, travel awards are being made available, on a competitive basis, to participants of the 13th RCMI International Symposium on Health Disparities.

The travel award is meant to subsidize each awardee's attendance at the RCMI2012 Symposium. For awardees from Ponce School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe, and University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, the travel award will be limited to cover the early-bird registration fee.

One award will be given to an eligible post-doctoral fellow or junior faculty member from each RCMI School:

Charles R. Drew University Los Angeles, California City College of NY, CUNY New York, New York Clark Atlanta University Atlanta, Georgia Florida A&M University Tallahassee, Florida Howard University Washington, District of Columbia Hunter College, CUNY New York, New York

Jackson State University Jackson, Mississippi Meharry Medical College Nashville, Tennessee Morehouse School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia Ponce School of Medicine Ponce, Puerto Rico Texas Southern University Houston, Texas Tuskegee University Tuskegee, Alabama

Universidad Central del Caribe Bayomon, Puerto Rico University of Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii University of Puerto Rico San Juan, Puerto Rico University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, Texas University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, Texas Xavier University of Louisiana New Orleans, Louisiana

Eligibility

Abstracts submitted by students, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty members, identified as the presenter on the Abstract Submission Form, will be considered for travel awards. A junior faculty is an individual who holds a faculty appointment and who does not have or has not previously received external, peer-reviewed Research Project Grant (RPG) or Program Project Grant (PPG) support from either Federal or non-Federal sources for which the individual is named as the principal investigator. Grants that name an individual as a co-investigator, collaborator, or consultant do not disqualify that investigator. Starter grants (such as NIH's FIRST award mechanism, R29), Academic Research Enhancement Award grants (AREA, R15), or exploratory/pilot project grants (such as NIH R03 or R21 awards) also do not disqualify the investigator.

Selection Process

Senior scientists within the RCMI Program will review the abstracts, and travel awards will be based strictly on merit. Review criteria will include an assessment of significance of the research; rigor of the research design, and data analysis; and the level of innovation. Reviewers will be recused from scoring abstracts submitted from individuals at their institutions.

Awardee Notification

Awardees will be notified on or before August 31, 2012 of abstract acceptance as oral or poster presentation. At the time of award notification, each awardee will be required to obtain the signature of the RCMI Program Director at their institution, verifying their status as a junior investigator, or a post-doctoral fellow. This will also notify the Program Directors of the travel award recipients at their institution.

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