NIH T32 Training Grant in Joint Health

Eligibility

• U.S. citizen or permanent residency status required
• For the post-doctoral slots:  a doctoral degree (M.D., D.O., Ph.D., D.V.M., D.D.S. or equivalent)
• For the short-term training slots:  be a current medical student.

Mentors/Research areas

Research areas of the mentors are outlined on this page below, with links to individual labs.

Training program

The objective of the proposed program is to provide education, training and research opportunities to post-doctoral fellows and short-term trainees who wish to have scientific careers in the multi-disciplinary area of musculoskeletal biology with the ultimate aim of developing future leaders in orthopedic- and rheumatology-related research. The program emphasizes research training in Joint Health, encompassing three major programmatic areas:

1. Osteoarthritis (OA)
2. Total Joint Replacement (TJR)
3. Small Molecule Therapeutics (SMT)

The multidisciplinary training that is offered integrates the research endeavors of scientists in basic and clinical departments with clinician investigators, caregivers, and educators who specialize in musculoskeletal disease and joint health. The net result is a large and internationally respected group devoted to musculoskeletal research, with a special focus on OA (including pain), cartilage and bone biology, TJR, and muscle physiology. There are close inter-departmental collaborations in both clinical and basic research, which yields a truly unique environment for mentoring junior investigators in joint health.

Each fellow, with the aid of his/her primary advisor, establishes a mentoring committee. Specific functions of the mentoring committee will include (i) ensuring appropriate training, (ii) monitoring research progress, and (iii) providing feedback on the mentee’s required individual grant applications.  The mentoring committees work with the trainee, using training guidelines published by the National Post-doctoral Association and Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.opms.r1100101). The mentor-mentee relationship is a two-way street and both parties need to be proactive in recognizing and fulfilling their responsibilities. An important means to ensure communication on these topics between the trainee and mentor is the use of an individual development plan using myIDP, agreed upon by both the mentee and mentor. These plans are updated yearly by the trainee and mentor and reviewed by the mentoring committee.

To organize the training we focus on the 6 competencies for post-doctoral trainees outlined and defined by the National Post-doctoral Association. These are: (i) discipline-specific conceptual knowledge; (ii) research skill development; (iii) communication skills; (iv) professionalism; (v) leadership and management skills; (vi) responsible conduct of research.  An important milestone for T32 appointees will be the submission of an individual training grant application to the NIH (F32) or another appropriate agency (such as the Arthritis Foundation or the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation) by the end of Year 1.

The RUSH Post-doctoral Society (RPS), which is an affiliate of the National Post-doctoral Association, collaborates with local institutions such as the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory to help create a sense of community for Chicago-area postdoctoral fellows. At RUSH, resources are provided to assist new post-doctoral scholars transitioning to RUSH and support those leaving RUSH as they embark on new careers. The idea is to provide a community where post-doctoral scholars can share ideas and concerns, and socialize with peers. The RPS has a committee comprised of RUSH postdoctoral fellows who meet once a month to organize career development seminars, workshops and social events. There are about 10 organized sessions per year. Each session touches upon one or more of the 6 National Post-doctoral Association competencies.

T32 post-doctoral trainees have ready access to the resources of the RUSH Mentoring Programs, which was created to ensure successful transition to independency of junior faculty recruits at Rush. One of the major advantages of this program is that it gives post-doctoral fellows an opportunity to learn directly from their successful peers and junior faculty.

Other key training mechanisms include local activities such as seminar series, journal clubs, clinical rounds, research rounds, residency didactic programs and the mentee’s lab meetings. We do not expect each trainee to participate in all of the local activities, but do expect the trainee and their mentor to develop a plan for participating in the most helpful ones. An important aspect of training is attendance at regional, national and international research meetings.

Compensation

We adhere to NIH guidelines, which can be found at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-19-036.html.  Health insurance will be provided as will support to attend one national meeting per year.

Payback obligation

The NRSA legislation requires postdoctoral recipients of support to “pay back” the U.S. Government by engaging in health-related biomedical or behavioral research. This includes direct administration or review of health-related research, health-related teaching, or any combination of these activities. Please see https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/nihgps/HTML5/section_11/11.4_payback_requirements.htm for details.  For individuals receiving postdoctoral support under individual fellowships or institutional research training grants, a payback obligation is incurred for the first 12 months of Kirschstein-NRSA support. However, the 13th and subsequent months of postdoctoral NRSA supported research training serves to pay back this obligation month by month. A Payback Agreement (PHS 6031) is required but only for the initial 12-month postdoctoral support period.

Application process

Please contact Dr. Rick Sumner for current availability of positions supported by the training grant.  We strongly encourage those interested in this program to directly contact the mentor of most interest, with a cc to Dr. Sumner (rick_sumner@rush.edu).

• For the post-doctoral positions, required elements include a cover letter indicating your area of interest/desired mentor, NIH Biosketch, your best published work (manuscript or meeting abstract) and three letters of recommendation. Please arrange a phone or in-person interview with your prospective mentor. The prospective mentor is responsible for submitting the application.
• For the short-term positions, please submit all required elements for the Dean’s Fellowship to Dr. Sumner one week before the due date. If not selected for support by the training grant, your application will be forwarded to the Dean’s Office for consideration for a Dean’s Fellowship.  Some of the medical students prepare these applications through a first year research elective.

Criteria for being a preceptor

We have classified the training grant faculty into “preceptor” and “co-preceptor” categories. Criteria for being selected as a preceptor and continuing to be listed as a preceptor include (i) willingness to commit to training a post-doctoral fellow; (ii) adequate research funding to support the research effort; (iii) availability of a project relevant to joint health that will serve as a good training vehicle; and (iv) current or recent mentoring experience with TGE trainees. Several RUSH faculty who meet the first three preceptor qualifications but lack previous or recent mentoring experience with TGE post-doctoral fellows are classified as co-preceptors. These faculty can serve as the primary advisor to a post-doctoral fellow as long as there is a formal co-sponsor from the preceptor faculty. Current RUSH faculty wishing to transition to preceptor status or new faculty recruited to RUSH wishing to be a training grant preceptor should submit their NIH Biosketch, history of mentoring and outline of research area to the Executive Committee, who will make a decision after consulting with the Advisory Board. We anticipate adding new preceptors to the training grant through recruitment of new faculty to RUSH and through junior faculty establishing research independence and senior faculty re-establishing their funding base.

Obligations/Responsibilities

The mentor must commit to focusing on the 6 competencies for post-doctoral trainees outlined and defined by the National Post-doctoral Association. These are: (i) discipline-specific conceptual knowledge; (ii) research skill development; (iii) communication skills; (iv) professionalism; (v) leadership and management skills; (vi) responsible conduct of research. There are many resources available at Rush and through the T32 training program to help mentors meet these obligations. The mentor must also recognize that the mentor-mentee relationship is a two-way street and both parties need to be proactive in recognizing and fulfilling their responsibilities. An important means to ensure communication between the trainee and mentor is the use of an individual development plan using myIDP. These plans are updated yearly by the trainee and mentor and reviewed by the mentoring committee. The mentor will work with a formal mentoring committee, consisting of the primary advisor and two other faculty members who themselves may or may not be training grant faculty. It is expected that the post-doctoral trainee will meet weekly or bi-weekly in one-on-one sessions with the primary advisor. Periodic meetings with mentoring committee members to discuss research progress and career development occur approximately once a quarter. A formal mentoring committee meeting is scheduled every 6 to 12 months with either the Training Grant Director (Dr. Sumner) or one of the co-directors (Dr. Malfait or Dr. Wimmer). These more formal reviews provide feedback to the trainee and mentor on progress with respect to the research project and the trainee’s development plan.

An important outcome for the training grant is the publication record and subsequent funding success of our mentees. Thus, we expect the mentors to be fully committed to ensuring timely submission of manuscripts and grant applications. An important milestone for T32 appointees will be the submission of an individual training grant application to the NIH (F32) or another appropriate agency (such as the Arthritis Foundation or the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation) by the end of Year 1. The mentor must be willing to aid the trainee in writing individual grants will be a major point of emphasis and will serve as an excellent training vehicle.