The ACR, Rheumatology Research Foundation Address Research Funding Shortfall

The ACR provides support to early career investigators in a number of ways, including live educational conferences and online resources.

The ACR Rheumatology Research Workshop (RRW), held in conjunction with the Foundation’s Investigators’ Meeting in June 2015, offered outstanding opportunities for young investigators from undergraduate students up to physicians who are six years past their fellowship training. The two-day workshop included lectures, oral abstract presentations, poster sessions and time for interactions with senior investigators. The ACR offered a travel scholarship for this meeting to those investigators whose abstract was accepted for presentation. The application for the 2016 meeting will open in December and an announcement will be sent to all ACR/ARHP members.

In 2014, the ACR COR developed a grantsmanship webinar series to guide rheumatology investigators through the grant submission process. Topics in the eight webinar series, which can be accessed on the ACR website, include identifying available grant opportunities for investigators, crafting a planning timeline for grant submission and lessons to be gleaned from NIH grant summary statements.

Recruiting the Next Generation

Sustaining the ACR’s mission and enhancing the lives of patients with rheumatic diseases requires a deep understanding of the pathogenesis of the rheumatic diseases and an ability to translate these findings into novel and improved treatments. Physician-scientists’ unique combination of clinical expertise and scientific perspective is essential for the advancement of rheumatology. The ACR COR strives to attract and maintain a strong pipeline of basic and translational physician scientists who will serve as future thought leaders and pioneers in our field. This initiative is in its early stages, but progress to date includes liaising with the American Physician Scientists Association (APSA) (an organization for MD/PhD students) to increase the visibility of rheumatology, inviting MD/PhD, MD and DO students to attend the ACR RRW, and identifying physician scientists in rheumatology to become microvolunteers for the COR.

The ACR is committed to sustaining the pipeline of outstanding basic scientists in rheumatology by exposing prospective physician scientists to the field and to potential mentors early on in their careers.

E. William St.Clair, MD, is president of the ACR and chief of the Duke Division of Rheumatology and Immunology. Dr. St.Clair, a rheumatologist, has 25 years of experience as a clinical investigator. Contact him at [email protected].