Mentored Research Investigator Training (MeRIT)
MeRIT is the ACCP Research Institute’s (RI’s) latest investigator training program with a growing record of success. This 2-year longitudinal program uses a combination of live and virtual teaching/mentoring methods to provide participants with the tools and guidance they need throughout the research experience (i.e., from research question, proposal writing, funding application, and IRB approval to results, presentation, and publication). The next cohort of MeRIT investigators will begin training June 26–30, 2017, on the campus of the University of Michigan, College of Pharmacy, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
2015 MeRIT participants presented posters of completed projects, and 2016 MeRIT investigators presented summaries of proposed projects and received input and comments from mentors and interested members during the ACCP Annual Meeting, Tuesday, October 25, 2016, in Hollywood, Florida. Pictured (left to right, front): 2016 MeRIT mentee Stephanie Phan discusses her project with Jeff Bishop and Tom Dowling, two of the nine MeRIT mentors in 2016.
MeRIT is designed to assist pharmacists with developing the abilities necessary to conduct investigator-initiated research, either independently as a principal investigator or as an active coinvestigator within a research team. Ideal candidates are pharmacy faculty or practitioners with limited research experience who are:
- committed to incorporating research into their professional careers,
- interested in generating research themes or obtaining preliminary data for larger funding opportunities,
- aspiring to be active principal or coinvestigators within a research team, and
- able to commit at least 10% effort to research.
The 2017 MeRIT Program application may be downloaded at www.accpri.org/investigator/. Letters of intent to apply are due February 28, and applications are due March 31, 2017.
Focused Investigator Training (FIT)
The RI is pleased to announce that the 2017 Focused Investigator Training (FIT) Program will be held at the University of Michigan, College of Pharmacy in Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 26–30, 2017. FIT is a 5-day, intensive, hands-on program to assist investigators with succeeding in the current research funding environment. Each experienced investigator will take necessary steps toward maximizing competitiveness of a K, R01, or similar investigator-initiated application for submission to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other major funding source. Investigators will be challenged to carefully examine research aims and explore individual professional research goals and, by the end of the program, will have taken critical steps toward fine-tuning their applications to meet study section reviewers’ expectations. The program’s experienced and funded faculty mentors deliver a curriculum offering:
- small-group proposal development sessions
- tip-rich lectures and discussions
- one-on-one mentor/statistician appointments
- protected time for proposal development and revision
The ideal applicant is a fellowship-trained, tenure-track, or research-focused pharmacist in the final stages of preparing a grant application for submission/resubmission. Please contact the RI for eligibility questions. The 2017 FIT Program application and application instructions are available at www.accpri.org/investigator/. Letters of intent to apply are due February 28, and applications will close March 31, 2017.