VCU School of Medicine Grant Generating Project Announces 2011-2012 Fellows

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine has selected 11 scholars from across the country to participate in the Grant Generating Project, a yearlong program based at VCU designed to equip and mentor family medicine researchers with grant writing skills.

The goal of the fellowship, which brings established health professionals to VCU for two semesters of study and related professional experiences, is to increase research capacity in securing competitive funding for grants and contracts in the discipline of family medicine.

Fellows will learn to write successful research grants and network with family medicine researchers throughout North America.

The fellowship, which was established in 1995, is open to all faculty of family medicine programs, both university- and community-based, who are interested in pursuing competitive externally funded research on topics of interest to family medicine.

To date, GGP alumni have reported more than $336 million in funded grants as either principal investigators, co-investigators or in other significant roles, since participating in the program. Sources of funding include the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Policy and Research, various state and local government entities, pharmaceutical companies, charitable organizations such as the American Cancer Society and United Way and numerous private foundations such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Organizational sponsors of the GGP include the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, the North American Primary Care Research Group and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.

The program is directed by Daniel R. Longo, Sc.D., director of research for the Department of Family Medicine in the VCU School of Medicine, and co-director of the Virginia Ambulatory Care Outcomes Research Network.

The 11 fellows for 2011-2012 GGP are:

• Kristin Baughman, Ph.D., Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio

• Melinda Davis, Ph.D., M.D., Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Ore.

• Joel Dickerman, D.O., St. Mary Corwin Family Medicine Residency Program, Colorado Springs, Colo.

• Kenneth Goodman, M.D., Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio

• Melissa Bradner, M.D., M.S.H.A., Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.

• J. Aaron Johnson, Ph.D., Medical Center of Central Georgia and Mercer University School of Medicine, Macon, Ga.

• Morteza Khodaee, M.D., M.P.H., University of Colorado, Denver, Colo.

• Michael McKee, M.D., M.P.H., University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.

• Shobha Pais, Ph.D., Indiana University, Indianapolis, Ind.

• Hazel Tapp, Ph.D., Carolinas HealthCare System and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Charlotte, N.C.

• Maili Velez-Dalla Tor, M.D., Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital and Family Medicine Residency Program , Hacienda Heights, Calif.

For more information about the GGP call 804-828-9652 or visit http://www.familymedicine.vcu.edu/research/ggp/index.html.