College of Medicine receives grant to support researchers with unexpected pandemic responsibilities

Gabe Burggraf
Thu, 02 Dec 2021 01:25:23 +0000
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The Ohio State College of Medicine was awarded an over $500,000 grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to help support and retain research occupations for early-career faculty at the assistant professor level. Credit: Courtesy of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

A grant awarded to the Ohio State College of Medicine in November will provide financial support anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 per awardee to help support and retain research occupations for early-career faculty at the assistant professor level.

?The grant, an over $500,000 donation from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s COVID-19 Fund to Retain Clinical Scientists program, will support researchers who have less work availability due to increased caregiving and educational needs for their families during the pandemic, Dr. Ginny Bumgardner, associate dean for physician scientist education and training at the college, said .

“The purpose is really to prevent researchers from being derailed from their research career,” Bumgardner said. “With this funding, we hope to be able to support additional help to do some of the research that needs to be done to keep the momentum of the research that they are performing.”

The deadline for full application submission was midnight Tuesday. Applications will be reviewed in December, and awardees will be notified in January 2022, with Feb. 1, 2022 being the grant’s earliest start date.??

Women, people from underrepresented groups, people with a disability or those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds were encouraged to apply, according to the request for applications.

Dr. Rebecca Jackson, associate dean for clinical and translational research and director of the Center of Clinical and Translational Science, said the grant is crucial to maintain and build the research field.

“We may lose an entire generation of research clinicians, research scientists, and so it’s really to make sure that they can be successful,” Jackson said.

Jackson said awardees can receive support for two years and the College of Medicine hopes to be able to support a large number of faculty members.

Bumgardner said the goal is to sustain the productivity of research programs for eligible faculty through career path promotion and by funding ongoing and future projects.??

Academic advancement opportunities — such as becoming editors of a journal or participating in a national organization — offer personal benefits for faculty and enhance the university’s reputation, both of which Bumgardner said could be impeded or missed by projects falling behind.?

?Jackson said the College of Medicine hopes to learn how to best prepare researchers through additional caregiving responsibilities and engaging individuals in the field.

“Our goal in this is to also learn and develop kind of the best practices of how we support women, but also men, where we have these kinds of challenges that can change career trajectory so that we can keep our best and our brightest engaged,” Jackson said.