Career Support

Overview
Childhood skin diseases are associated with severe burden on patients, families, and health care providers.  Despite this burden, effective treatments are sparse, the pace of research is slow, and board-certified pediatric dermatologists remain few-in-number. Furthermore, mid-career clinician scientists in the field often encounter challenges after receiving early career start up funds from their institution, traditional career development awards, or small pilot grants, which may contribute to stress, increased prioritization of clinic work over research, and high rates of burnout.

To better support the full career trajectory of clinician scientists in the field, the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance (PeDRA) is offering the 2021 Career Bridge Research Grant to support one mid-career investigator in the conduct of an innovative research study in the field of pediatric dermatology.  Applications may be submitted by a pediatric dermatologist between seven and fifteen years out of training for $80,000 to support salary and research activities for up to two years.

Goals
The Career Bridge Research Grant is driven by PeDRA’s commitment to support both research and researchers in the field of pediatric dermatology. It is intended to provide protected research time and resources for a mid-career clinician scientist conducting high-impact research in the field. Ultimately, the Career Bridge Research Grant is expected to propagate the career of the recipient through the challenging mid-career phase and give them the potential to obtain larger-scale, longer-term funding from the NIH or other agencies. 

Priority consideration will be given to mid-career investigators collaborating with senior mentors, projects that address high-priority patient-centered research questions, and projects that align with the focus of any of PeDRA’s Focused Study Groups. Additional priority will be given to applications that support PeDRA’s commitment to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion across all facets of its organization and pediatric dermatology research. Diversity and inclusion strengthen the PeDRA research network and are critical to the pursuit of its mission.

Important Details

• $80,000 to support salary and research activities for up to two years for mid-career pediatric dermatologists
• Priority consideration to mid-career investigators collaborating with senior mentors, projects that address high-priority patient-centered research questions, and projects that align with the focus of any of PeDRA’s Focused Study Groups
• Applications due Thursday, December 2, 2021

Previous Career Bridge Recipients: