Awards

The Office of Clinical Research holds an annual Clinical Research Recognition Event in April with a reception. During this event, we celebrate our dedicated clinical research team members, share an overview of the research portfolio, and highlight the accomplishments of our clinical departments over the past year. Awards given out at this event include the following:

The Dean’s Clinical Research Award is given to the department with the largest gross amount of sponsored awards (total, and when accounting for the number of FTE faculty in the department).

The Clinical Scholarship Excellence Award is given to the department with the highest amount of Scopus indexed peer-reviewed scholarly contributions (total, and when accounting for the number of FTE faculty in the department).

The High Impact Publication Award is given to an ECU Health or BSOM clinical faculty member (first or senior author) with an article published in a high impact factor journal within their field or an adjacent field within the past two years that also promotes the mission of ECU Health and BSOM.

The High Impact Patient Enrollment Award is given to a PI who enrolled the most patients on a clinical study in the past fiscal year.

The Outstanding Clinical Research Support Staff Award is given to a research support staff member currently employed at ECU Health or ECU Brody School of Medicine that has made exceptional contributions in clinical research in the past year. It recognizes a clinical research support staff team member who went above and beyond to ensure the success of their study, support their team, and/or care for their patients.

• • Department chairs, PIs, faculty, staff, and leaders can nominate team members
  • Nominations are due in the Spring.

ECU Brody School of Medicine and ECU Health are pleased to announce the availability of funds for the Clinical Research Advancement Award, aimed at addressing critical research problems with a direct impact on the lives of patients in Eastern North Carolina. We invite qualified clinicians and researchers to submit proposals for innovative research projects that will contribute to advancing health outcomes in our region.

Purpose: The primary objective of this award is to support clinical research endeavors that have the potential to significantly improve the health and well-being of people in Eastern North Carolina. Proposals should focus on addressing pressing clinical research problems, including but not limited to, chronic diseases prevalent in the region, access to healthcare services, health disparities among underserved populations, and implementation of evidence-based practices in clinical settings. Two proposals will be selected. The final report from each funded project must be presented at next year’s Clinical Research Recognition Event

Budget: The award covers $10,000 of dedicated clinical research coordinator effort (approximately 4-8 hours of assistance per week for 12 months) as well $2,500 that can be used towards project dissemination (either conference presentation or publication fees).

Eligibility Criteria:

1. Applicants must be employed by either ECU Health or ECU Brody School of Medicine in a clinical appointment (>50% FTE allocated to a clinical role).
2. Principal Investigators (PIs) should hold a faculty appointment or be an attending physician eligible for affiliate faculty appointment at ECU Brody School of Medicine.
3. Applicants should provide a letter of support from either a service line leader or department chair, certifying that the applicant will have the support of their unit in conducting the proposed work if awarded this grant.
4. The PI must have current CITI training within the past 3 years. Information on CITI training is available here: https://rede.ecu.edu/umcirb/mandatory-training/citi-training/

Application Guidelines:

1. A proposal must be submitted as a Word document or PDF, and include the following components:

• • Background and aims (approximately 1/2 page)
  • Methods (approximately 1 page, including a brief description of how research coordinator effort funded through this award would contribute to project activities)
  • Future directions (approximately 1/2 page, describing anticipated presentations, publications, and extramural grant submissions based on the proposed work)
  • Brief bios of key personnel and description of resources available to study team for conducting the proposed research (approximately 1 page)

2. The proposal document should not exceed 3 pages, excluding references and appendices.
3. All submissions must be sent electronically to Research@ecuhealth.org with subject line Clinical Research Advancement Award – [Insert PI name]. Submissions are due in the spring.

Please include the following required elements:

• • PI’s current CV
  • PI’s CITI training certificate
  • Research proposal document
  • Letter of support from service line leader or department chair

Review Process:

1. Projects must meet the following minimum standards to be considered further:

• • The proposed work should be entirely or primarily clinical human subjects research
  • The proposed work must be feasible within 12 months
  • The proposed work must only need coordinator and data analytics support (funding cannot be spent on supplies)
  • The proposal or the letter of support must demonstrate that other project expenses required for project completion will be funded through other means, or provided in-kind

2. Evaluation criteria will include scientific merit, potential impact on patient outcomes, innovation, feasibility, and relevance to Eastern North Carolina.
3. Applicants will be notified of the review outcome at the annual Clinical Research Recognition event.

We look forward to receiving innovative proposals that will contribute to advancing clinical research and ultimately improving healthcare outcomes for patients in Eastern North Carolina.

Should you have any questions or require further information about this award, please contact Cierra Buckman (buckmanc17@ecu.edu) or Dr. Dmitry Tumin (tumind18@ecu.edu).