New Health Equity Research Award

ACG Institute Invests in GI Career Development

The ACG Institute considers the Junior Faculty Development Award the “jewel in the crown” of the College’s research initiatives. This award provides three years of support at the new level of $150,000 annually for a $450,000 total investment in GI clinical investigation. At this level of funding, the Institute is able to attract the best-qualified candidates and provide them with the protected research time when funding is increasingly scarce.

Learn more about the research awards offered by the ACG Institute: gi.org/researchawards

Rigorous Review of Clinical Research Applicants by ACG Research Committee

In February 2021, the ACG Research Committee, under the leadership of Chair, Millie D. Long, MD, MPH, FACG, and Vice-Chair, Timothy B. Gardner, MD, MS, FACG, convened via Zoom for a three-day review session of the submissions for the ACG 2021 Research Awards. The hard-working committee members encompass a wide range of research expertise in gastroenterology and hepatology. Each year, over 100 grant applications for grant funding are reviewed, spread among the different clinical research categories of Junior Faculty Development Awards, Bridge Funding Award, Clinical Research Awards, and Pilot Programs.

This year, a new Research Subcommittee reviewed (via Zoom) the Medical Resident Clinical Research Awards and Medical Student Research Awards available for our junior colleagues. Both of these award types include a travel component for participation in the ACG Annual Scientific Meeting.

The Research Committee members thoroughly review each grant application, with three reviewers assigned to score each grant, utilizing a scoring scale modeled on the NIH scoring system. At the committee’s review meeting in January, applications are discussed in detail with a presentation by each of the three assigned reviewers, followed by an open discussion by the Research Committee and final scoring by all committee members.

Once the review process is completed, a recommendation regarding which grants should be funded is made to the ACG Institute’s Director, Neena S. Abraham, MD, MSc(Epi), FACG, who then presents those funding decisions to the ACG Board of Trustees for final approval.

The dedicated members of the Research Committee take part in the labor-intensive review process to ensure that it is fair and that the best science is selected for funding. In order to assist applicants in their grantsmanship and future applications, all grant applicants also receive written critiques from the reviewers.

2022 Clinical Research Awards

THE ACG INSTITUTE IS EXPANDING CLINICAL RESEARCH AWARD OPPORTUNITIES to produce actionable science that will translate to reducing health and/or healthcare disparities. For 2022, one new research award is available:

Health Equity Research Award

Up to $50,000 for one-year for faculty at a university, medical school or other healthcare institution or practicing gastroenterologists in a community practice in the U.S. or Canada.

The goal of the Health Equity Research Award is to support promising investigators in developing research careers that have a direct bearing on clinical gastrointestinal practice by advancing our knowledge in reducing disparities in the care and outcomes of racial/ethnic minorities, women, LGBTQ+ populations, and/or those living with a disability that is not derivative of a gastrointestinal disease, within the broader context of gastrointestinal and liver diseases. For the purpose of this RFA, a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.