AHRQ Career Development Awards

• Special Emphasis Notice (SEN): AHRQ Announces Interest in Career Development (K01, K02, K08) Grants focused on Health Care Associated Infections in Ambulatory Care Settings 

In Fiscal Year 2010, AHRQ intends to support individual mentored and independent career-development grants (I.e., K01, K02, K08 grants) to doctorally-prepared clinicians and scientists interested in pursuing research careers related to the prevention and more effective management of health care associated infections (HAIs).  The objective of individual career development grants is to provide support and "protected time" for an intensive, mentored or independent research career development experience.  Details on the scope, eligibility, deadlines, and application procedures for these grants can be found at one of the following sites: http://www.ahrq.gov/fund/training/trainix.htm#indlg, or  http://www.ahrq.gov/fund/.

Applicants must have an interest in developing their careers on research related to infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving treatment for other conditions within a healthcare setting including: acute care areas within hospitals, same day surgical centers, dialysis centers, ambulatory outpatient care clinics, and long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities.  These HAIs are associated with a variety of causes, including, but not limited to: the use of medical devices, complications following a surgical procedure, transmission between patients and healthcare workers, or the result of antibiotic use. The morbidity and mortality associated with HAIs, including those HAIs caused by antibiotic-resistant organisms, exact a significant toll on human life and result in staggering costs.

Research priorities related to this Special Emphasis Notice are the: 1) the development, implementation and demonstration of strategies and interventions the prevent and manage HAIs, along with the determination of the costs of such interventions; 2) determination of the efficacy and effectiveness of preventative interventions; and 3) population-level studies on the patient risk factors, sources, and disease genotypes of antibiotic-resistant organisms that can result in HAIs.  The scientific and practical knowledge to be achieved through these research and demonstration efforts will identify the practical and cost-effective approaches to preventing and managing HAIs.