Health Outcomes Research Postdoctoral Fellowships provide $55,000 a year in funding. (Pictured: 2018 fellowship recipient Andrew D. Wiese, MPH, PhD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center.)
KEY DETAILS
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Health Outcomes Research
This award supports individuals engaged in a research training program that will extend their credentials in health outcomes research.
Application deadline: February 3, 2020 @ 11:59 PM EST. (The application and reference letters of support are due by the deadline.)
Click HERE to apply.
Award notification is April 15, 2020.
Eligibility: Applicants (U.S. and non-U.S. citizens) attending schools of medicine, pharmacy, public health, nursing, and dentistry are eligible for this award. Applicants must 1) hold a PhD degree or appropriate terminal research doctorate in a field of study logically or functionally related to the proposed postdoctoral activities or 2) expect to receive the PhD before activating the award.
The fellowship supports candidates proposing to gain new skills in relevant areas. Applications requesting funds to continue an existing postdoctoral program for a third to fifth year will not be considered, nor will preference be given to those applying for funds to support postdoctoral work in the laboratory where their graduate work was performed.
Funding: Two-year award at $55,000 per year for stipend only.
This award is intended solely as a stipend and may not be used otherwise. If necessary the institution may supplement the award to a level that is consistent with other postdoctoral fellowships it offers.
Important: Please click on topics in blue, above, to learn the full details about this award.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Pharmacoeconomics, Real World Data and Health Outcomes Program (Health Outcomes Research) spans a broad spectrum of issues related to health-care delivery, from studies evaluating effectiveness of a pharmaceutical intervention, to the impact of reimbursement policies on outcomes of care. It also ranges from the development and use of patient-level real-world data and tools to perform patient-based assessments to analyses of ways in which results of Health Outcomes Research are disseminated to providers or consumers to encourage behavior change.
Health Outcomes Research incorporates a variety of methods, data, and tools from different disciplines. The application of Health Outcomes Research principles in evaluating the design, delivery, safe use and effectiveness of pharmaceuticals includes but isn’t limited to the following general areas:
Pharmacoeconomics evaluates behavior of individuals, organizations, and markets concerning use of pharmaceutical products, services, and programs. The discipline frequently focuses on costs (inputs) and consequences (outcomes) of pharmaceutical use.
Clinical Outcomes Assessment (COA) includes Patient Reported Outcomes, Clinician-Reported Outcomes, Performance Outcomes and Observer-Reported Outcomes. COA focuses on the value assigned to duration of life as modified by the impairment of physical, social, and psychological functional states, symptoms, satisfaction, perceptions, and opportunities influenced by disease, injury, treatment, or policy.
Patient-level Real-World Data and Analytic Tools: Health Outcomes Research depends on the evolving and increasing use, and evaluation of technologies, analyses and patient-level prospective databases (e.g. electronic medical records, health insurance claims data, registries, patient health-networks, patient health status monitoring) to assist in better understanding diseases and interventions.
Analyses and terminology under the umbrella of health outcomes include:
Biomarkers and Genetic Epidemiology Health Services Research
Burden of Disease Health Technology Assessment
Clinical Outcomes Assessment Patient Engagement in Research
Comparative Effectiveness Research Pharmacoeconomics
Compliance/Adherence Pharmacoepidemiology
Cost-Benefit Analysis Real-World Data and Evidence
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Value Assessment
Cost-Utility Analysis
AIMS
- To provide stipend support for individuals engaged in a research training program that will extend their credentials in health outcomes.
- To support the post-doctoral career development of individuals prepared to engage in research that will strengthen representation of health outcomes in schools of pharmacy, medicine, nursing, and public health.
ELIGIBILITY and REQUIREMENTS
- Applicants (U.S. and non-U.S. citizens) attending schools of medicine, pharmacy, public health, nursing, and dentistry are eligible for this award.
- Applicants (U.S. and non-U.S. citizens) must have a firm commitment from a sponsor (a.k.a. mentor) at an accredited U.S. university.
- Applicants must hold a PhD, PharmD, or MD degree.
- Applicants are encouraged to apply at the earliest point possible in their postdoctoral research.
FUNDING
- This award is two years and provides $55,000 in stipend support per year. (*)
- If necessary, the institution may supplement the award to a level that is consistent with other postdoctoral fellowships it currently offers. If the stipend is to be supplemented, indicate the amount. If no supplement is intended, so state this.
- The fellowship provides no other subsidies (travel, tuition, fringe benefit costs, etc.).
- PhRMA Foundation funds may not be used for indirect costs to the university.
- Awards may be activated beginning July 1, 2020 or on the first day of any month thereafter, up to and including December 1, 2020.
- Payments will be made directly to the university on a quarterly basis.
- These funds are non-transferable.
- An individual may not simultaneously hold or interrupt any other fellowship providing stipend support while the PhRMA Foundation fellowship is active.
- (*) The second year of funding is based upon a receiving a satisfactory progress report from the applicant upon completion of the first ten months of funding.
- A financial report will be required upon completion of the first twelve months of funding.
- A final progress report and financial report will be required at the conclusion of the fellowship.
- Unspent funds are to be returned to the PhRMA Foundation.
Postdoctoral Fellowship Application Checklist
Please make a copy of this list to reference during the application process, as incomplete applications will not be considered.
- General Registration Information
- Applicant CV or Biosketch
- Extended Letter
This letter is an opportunity to tell us who you are and to describe your career and future plans. Include a synopsis of your career, your professional interests, and your desired career path. The letter should not exceed two single-spaced pages (U.S. letter size 8.5” x 11” / 12-point font / .5” margin).
Note: In order to receive a PhRMA Foundation postdoctoral fellowship, you must hold a PhD, PharmD, MD or DNP. if you do not hold one at the time of application submission, please state in your extended letter when you expect to receive it as it must be received by the time funding begins.
- Research Plan
The applicant must prepare a comprehensive statement, not to exceed eight single-spaced pages (U.S. letter size 8.5” x 11” / 12-point font / .5” margin), of the plans for research, education, and training in the selected discipline. Applicants should use a format similar to the format specified for grants submitted to the National Institutes of Health, including a description of the objective(s), the rationale, methods of approach, and a bibliography of major references (bibliographies are not included in the page limit). Preliminary results, if any, should also be included. A project timeline is suggested. The first use of any abbreviation or acronym should be preceded by the full name or description or included in a footnote. The Advisory Committee will review each application to assess the quality of the proposed research, as well as the proposed education and training. Therefore, documentation stating proper guidance and departmental support will be available to ensure training in the techniques and principles of the area is essential. The proposal must document the approval of all departments in which the candidate will train via letters from chairs or mentors in these departments, or from appropriate personnel if the proposal includes an experiential rotation in an industrial research laboratory.
- Research Abstract
Submit a titled abstract of approximately 200 words concerning your proposed research plan.
- Transcripts
Unofficial copies of graduate transcripts should be scanned and uploaded along with the application.
- Budget
Provide a budget and list any other funding this project receives. You may upload a Budget Justification if necessary.
- References
Applicant should upload contact information for each reference (at least three people). The system will auto generate an email asking him/her to provide a letter of support by February 3, 2020 @ 11:59 PM EST.
All departments in which the candidate will train should be committed to this training and documented via letters from thesis advisor and/or department chair in these departments, or from appropriate personnel if the proposal includes an experimental rotation in an industrial research laboratory.
Department Chair
Applicant should upload contact information for the head of the administrative unit in which the applicant reports, e.g. department chair, program director, center director, institute director, etc. His/her reference letter should include an assessment of the applicant and proposed research as well as confirming the department is responsible for the training in this discipline.
Sponsor / Mentor
The sponsor / mentor should provide contact information, a biosketch, and a letter of recommendation. The letter should include an assessment of the candidate and proposed research. They must describe how the multidisciplinary goals of the proposed work will be accomplished and provide assurance that key collaborating mentors endorse and are willing to support the proposed research(which requires their letters of commitment as well). Information on the applicant’s current source of support and any pending applications for additional stipend should also be provided. If none are pending, please state this.
Up to Three Other Individuals Familiar with Applicant’s Scientific Career (include collaborators if applicable)
- Reprints or Preprints
Submit copies of relevant articles you have published.
(^) Submission of this plan is assurance that the research proposal has been written primarily by the applicant.
2020 Health Outcomes Research Brochure
2020 Applications will be accepted after January 1, 2020. The deadline to apply is February 3, 2020 @ 11:59 PM EST.
