Eligibility:
Junior faculty with a doctorate (MD, PhD, MD/PhD or equivalent) at the rank of Instructor or Assistant Professor at Emory are eligible to apply to the program. Individuals who have accepted a faculty appointment may also apply if they will be Emory faculty at the date of receipt of the award. Faculty appointments cannot be dependent upon receipt of this award. Junior faculty physician candidates should have completed training in a specialty or subspecialty and be board eligible or certified. Non-physician candidates must have a PhD.
Candidates must be committed to a research career in academic medicine focused on women’s health and/or sex/gender life science and be willing to commit in writing to serve on the faculty of an academic institution pursuing clinical and/or translational research for each year of support received through the Emory BIRCWH Program.
As per NIH guidelines, candidates must be a U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident at the time they submit the application. Individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible.
Also per NIH rules, BIRCWH applicants may not simultaneously submit or have pending an application for any other PHS mentored career development award (e.g. K07, K08, K22, K23) that duplicates any of the provisions of the BIRCWH program. Former or current Principal Investigators on any NIH research project grant (e.g. R01, U01) or equivalent non-PHS peer reviewed research grants that are over $100,000 direct costs per year, or project leaders on sub-projects of program project (P01) or center grants (P50) are NOT eligible to participate as BIRCWH scholars. Trainees are allowed to hold NIH Small Grants (R03) or Exploratory/Developmental (R21) grants or their equivalents and still be eligible for the BIRCWH award. Appointed BIRCWH scholars may apply for K23 or equivalent K grant support; if successful, they transfer to the K award.
Requirements of the applicants and awardees accepted into the BIRCWH scholars program are as follows. The candidate must:
- Be a full time junior faculty member at Emory University (Instructor or Assistant Professor or equivalent level) at the time of receipt of the award.
- Indicate a strong interest in pursuing an academic research career in women’s health and/or sex/gender life science.
- Agree to commit in writing to serve at least one year on the faculty at an academic institution pursuing basic, behavioral, or clinical investigation for each year of support provided by the BIRCWH (the goal would be for the trainee to spend a career in academic research but this pledge emphasizes the importance of identifying persons interested in pursuing a career as an academic researcher).
- Be nominated by the candidate's Department Chair (and Division Director if applicable); the Chair must guarantee in writing in the nomination letter that a minimum of 75% of the junior faculty's professional time will be protected to pursue research training if the candidate is accepted into the BIRCWH Program (an exception is made for a minimum of 50% effort for trainees from surgery or surgical subspecialties).
- Identify an established Emory, CDC, MSM or Georgia Tech faculty lead mentor who meets approval criteria discussed above. Additional faculty members may serve as co-mentors or Advisory Committee members but there must be a single lead mentor.
Plan for Recruitment and Retention of Underrepresented Minorities, Women, and those with Disabilities
The Emory BIRCWH Program is committed to meeting the NIH ORWH goal and that of Emory University to increase the participation of women and individuals from ethnic or racial groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences. Such groups include American Indian or Alaska native, Asian, Black or African-American, Hispanic or Latino, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. Applications from women and minority candidates are encouraged. In addition, accommodations will be made to assist any individuals with disabilities so those persons who are qualified applicants can complete the program.
If you meet eligabilty requirements, click here for application instructions.