Emergency Medicine Research Career Development Program in the Neurological Sciences (EMRCDP-NS)

The Emergency Medicine Research Career Development Program in the Neurological Sciences (EMRCDP- NS) is a new national program that will recruit, mentor, train, and support early career emergency medicine faculty across the country. This is important because emergency medicine physicians have unique access to

and experience with patients entering the emergency department with a variety of neurological disorders, yet there is a dearth of emergency medicine physician-scientists due to the relative youth of the field. The program will greatly expand the cadre of emergency medicine physician-scientists capable of performing NIH-funded

research focused on neurological disorders commonly treated in the pre-hospital and emergency department settings. The EMRCDP-NS will be collaboratively led by a multi-PD team consisting of Robert Neumar, MD, PhD (University of Michigan), Opeolu Adeoye, MD, MS (Washington University), Gail D’Onofrio, MD, MS (Yale

University), and Clifton Callaway, MD, PhD (University of Pittsburgh), as well as a 15-member National Advisory Committee comprising renowned basic science, clinical, and health services investigators who have strong records of research and mentorship. EMRCDP-NS scholars will be selected from a nationwide cohort of

highly qualified candidates within their first or second faculty year subsequent to completing emergency medicine residency or fellowship training and who practice clinically at academic institutions that support emergency medicine research. Candidate applications will follow the NIH K format. The program will accept 3

new scholars each year over a 5-year period (15 funded scholars total). In Phase I of the program, scholars will receive up to 3-years of financial support from the EMRCDP-NS, including dedicated research time (75% effort). Scholars will undertake their career development and research plan at their home institution with

support from a local mentorship team. They will also participate in the in-person EMRCDP-NS Annual Meeting, in-person and virtual site visits, and bi-monthly virtual research training seminars. In Phase II (years 4-5) of the program, scholars will ideally be supported by their own NIH or similar funding, and they will be required to

have at least 50% dedicated research time guaranteed by their home department to support their transition to independence. To ensure a robust and diverse candidate pool, a Pipeline Program will be implemented with a focus on diversity to prepare potential scholar candidates to submit competitive K12 applications. In addition,

promising applicants who are not selected for funding will be offered ongoing mentorship by program leaders and will be encouraged to attend the Annual Meeting and virtual seminars. The primary goals of the program are that all EMRCDP-NS scholars and many non-selected applicants obtain subsequent, individual major NIH

awards (e.g., NIH K or R01-equivalent), have sustained careers of NIH-funded research, and mentor the next generation of emergency medicine physician-scientists. Moreover, the EMRCDP-NS program will help build a culture of research excellence in the specialty of emergency medicine that will positively impact the field.