Month: October 2023

ASCI Scientific Session: Babak Javid, MB BChir, PhD – Nov. 17, 1-2pm E

Posted on by Colleen McGarry
Photo of Dr. Babak Javid
Babak Javid, MB BChir, PhD

November 17, 1-2 pm Eastern

Babak Javid, MB BChir, PhD, Associate Professor in the Division of Experimental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, presented:

Tuberculosis virulence: lost and gained in (mis)translation

Watch the Video

This event was moderated by Kyu Y. Rhee, MD, PhD, Vice Chair of the ASCI’s Physician-Scientist Development Committee, and Professor of Medicine and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Click here for more information and to view past ASCI Scientific Sessions.

Nominations open for 2024 Honorary membership

Posted on by John Hawley

The ASCI is pleased to call for nominations for 2024 Honorary membership. Nominees for this recognition must fit the criteria as given in the ASCI bylaws:

Any distinguished person who has contributed significantly to the Society’s objectives, who has not been previously and unsuccessfully nominated for Active or International membership, and who enjoys an unimpeachable moral standing is eligible for nomination in this category.

For the nominee who meets these criteria, there is no restriction on age or degree held.

The deadline for receipt of nominations is January 16, 2024, at 11:59 pm Eastern (extended from December 8 , 2023). Nominations will be screened to ensure they are complete and fit the nomination criteria. The Council reviews nominations and submits its recommendations to Active and Senior members for approval.

Nominators:

  • must be an ASCI member in good standing, including members of the Council, and
  • must provide a statement (250-word limit) regarding the nominee.

Nominees:

  • must provide a full curriculum vitae and
  • must complete the ASCI’s demographic survey.

To start a nomination:

The nominator must initiate the process:

  • Access your member account
  • Go to the “Nominations” tab
  • In the section for “Honorary membership”:
    • Select “I’m the nominator” option
    • Search for your nominee:
      • If found, click on “Create nomination”.
      • If no result is found, enter the requested information (first name, last name, and email address), save, and then click on “Create nomination”.
    • At the top of the nomination form, click on “Send nominee information to access the nominee’s part of the nomination” to send the nominee an email to access and edit her/his aspect of the nomination (see above).

 

Call for applications to ASCI’s Postbac Program

Posted on by John Hawley

The ASCI is pleased to call for applications for the Society’s new Postbac Program.

This program provides an intensive, two-year mentored laboratory research experience for students that will expose them to the physician-scientist career path, strengthen their applications to MD or MD-PhD programs, and enhance their career development.

From the applicants, two finalists will be selected and each matched with a host lab where the Principal Investigator is an ASCI member with an outstanding mentoring record and resources to ensure in-depth research training. The two-year period will be mid-2024 through mid-2026.

Applicants are college graduates who are either in their last year of undergraduate study or received their bachelor’s degree within TWO years at the time of submission. Applicants should intend to apply to medical school during their second year of the Postbac Program.

Applications consist of:

  • a 750-word essay that describes your research experience, current interests and career goals, and anything else you would like us to know about you;
  • an undergraduate transcript (PDF);
  • a curriculum vitae (PDF);
  • headshot photograph (JPG etc.) (this file is not used in the review process);
  • two letters of recommendation (see more below); and
  • a completed ASCI demographics survey.

The application deadline is March 4, 2024, at 11:59 pm Eastern (extended from February 16). See the Postbac Program FAQ section for additional key dates.

Interested in applying?

Email staff@the-asci.org to request that an application be set up. You’ll receive an email providing information to access your application.

  • You can return to and edit the application until you’ve submitted it.
  • If you submit the application before the deadline and wish to edit it, email us and we’ll reopen the application.

Letters of recommendation

In your application, you’ll see a “Letters of recommendation” section where you can look up your supporters and add them if not found in our database. Supporters do not need to be affiliated with the ASCI in any way.

You’re responsible for notifying supporters to provide their letters online. Supporters are asked to complete two sections:

  • a statement (500-word limit) detailing your strengths and suitability to this program; and
  • a brief statement regarding their relationship to you.

Note that you won’t be able to submit your application until you’ve notified your supporters. In this section, you’ll be able to see whether supporters’ forms are in progress or submitted. You’ll also receive an email notification when each supporter submits her/his form.

Call for volunteer: Chair of the new Philanthropy Committee

Posted on by John Hawley

The ASCI seeks a volunteer to chair a newly established Philanthropy Committee.

The ideal volunteer ASCI member will help establish and nurture potential donors to the organization. The goal is to obtain major gifts that can be used to support the mission of the ASCI, including but not limited to supporting scientific efforts, educational needs, and clinical aspirations of physician-scientists to improve the health of our communities.

As part of this mission, the ASCI provides two programs for early-career physician-scientists: the Young Physician-Scientist Awards (YPSAs), for those who are within 5 years of their first faculty appointment, and the Emerging-Generation (E-Gen) Awards, for those who are within 3 to 9 years of earning their MD, MD/PhD, or equivalent degrees. Both the YPSAs and E-Gen Awards are intended to connect early-career physician-scientists with the ASCI community through access to the annual AAP/ASCI/APSA Joint Meeting and virtual career development, mentorship, and networking opportunities.

This year, the ASCI has initiated a new program, the ASCI Postbac Program, that will support Underrepresented in Medicine and Science (UiMS) students in obtaining an intensive, mentored, laboratory research experience. The goal of this program is to expose students to the physician-scientist career pathway and strengthen their applications to MD or MD/PhD programs.

The Society envisions expanding these programs further to support the careers of physician-scientists, and the Philanthropy Committee Chair will play a critical role in these efforts.

The Chair will serve an initial 3-year term, joined by a Vice Chair (the current ASCI Secretary-Treasurer) and other ex-officio Council members. In addition, the Chair will be supported by other non-Council volunteer members (to be selected by the Chair with approval of the President) and ASCI staff. As part of donor cultivation, the Chair will be host of an annual donor-recognition dinner in Chicago on the evening prior to the start of the Joint Meeting.

The ASCI anticipates the effort for the Chair to be approximately 5 hours per month. The ASCI will provide reimbursement for travel and related expenses accrued for Committee work, including registration, hotel, and travel for the Joint Meeting.

Those interested should send a CV and a brief (~250-word) statement of interest, including relevant experience, by November 6 to staff@the-asci.org.

Nominations open for mid-career member awards, 2024

Posted on by John Hawley

The ASCI is pleased to call for nominations for awards recognizing the scholarly achievements of mid-career members:

The Marian W. Ropes, MD, Award recognizes a middle-career woman physician-scientist. The annual award honors Dr. Ropes (1903–1994), a pioneer both as a researcher on the role of synovial fluid in joint diseases and as a woman in academic medicine. She was the first woman documented to have been elected to the ASCI. The recipient of this award receives a $10,000 honorarium, will be recognized at the ASCI’s 2024 annual meeting, and gives the Ropes Lecture at the 2025 meeting.

The Louis W. Sullivan, MD, Award recognizes a middle-career physician-scientist who is underrepresented in medicine and science. The award honors Dr. Sullivan (born 1933), a hematologist, health care advocate, and policy leader — having served as US Secretary of Health and Human Services — and who was the first Black physician-scientist elected to the ASCI. The recipient of this award receives a $10,000 honorarium, will be recognized at the ASCI’s 2024 annual meeting, and gives the Sullivan Lecture at the 2025 meeting.

ASCI members who were elected in 2019 or more recently may be nominated. Additionally:

  • For the Ropes Award, only female members are eligible for nomination.
  • For the Sullivan Award, only UiMS members are eligible for nomination.

The deadline for receipt of nominations is November 27, 2023, at 11:59 pm Eastern (extended from November 13). Nominations will be screened to ensure they are complete and fit the award criteria. The ASCI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee will review nominations and submit its recommendations to the ASCI Council for approval. We expect to notify nominees about the outcome by January 2024.

Nominators:

  • must be an ASCI member, except for current members of the ASCI Council and the ASCI Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, and
  • must provide a statement regarding the nominee (500-word limit).

Nominees:

  • must fit the criteria noted above and may not be current members of the ASCI Council and the ASCI Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee;
  • may be nominated only for one ASCI award (for example, a nominee for the Ropes Award may not be nominated for the Sullivan Award, Korsmeyer Award, or Harrington Prize);
  • must provide the following:
    • a personal statement (750-word limit) on their scientific achievements, with attention to relevant personal and career history (including a statement of diversity), mentoring experience, and service to the community;
    • a full curriculum vitae; and
    • 3 most-significant publications, each with a 50-word annotation, followed by the member’s role in the publication, the journal name and publication year, and the Pubmed ID noted as “PMID:12345”;
  • and must complete the ASCI’s demographic survey.

To start a nomination:

  • Access your member account
  • Go to the “Nominations” tab
  • In the section for the award of interest:
    • If you are the nominee, select the “I’m the nominee” option to start your part of the nomination (only you have access to this information); note that this option will not be available for the Ropes Award for male members.
    • If you are the nominator, select “I’m the nominator” option, then search for your nominee. Only nominees who were elected starting 2019 will appear in the results. Note: for the Ropes Award, you will only be able to select a nominee who is a woman; for the Sullivan Award, you may select anyone who is within the election-year window, but nominations will be screened (based on the information the nominee provides in the demographics survey) to ensure that nominees fit the UiMS criterion.

Definition of UiMS

The ASCI defines underrepresented in medicine in science as follows: Underrepresented in medicine and science (UiMS) refers to populations that are underrepresented relative to their numbers in the general US population. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, physician-scientists who identify in the following racial and/or ethnic groups: Black/African American, Hispanic or Latin American, Native American/American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander; individuals with disabilities: physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; and those with an educationally or financially disadvantaged background.