The Education Workshop “Opportunities and Grant Applications at the NIH” was held during the 2017 ICMRS-ORS Membership meeting organized by Dr. Tingting Tang, the President Elect, in San Diego on March 20, 2017. The workshop started with two keynote speakers: Dr. Fei Wang, Program Director of the Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Program, Division of Musculoskeletal Diseases at NIAMS, NIH, and Dr. Yi-Xian Qin, Professor and Director of Orthopaedic Bioengineering Research Laboratory at Stony Brook University.

Keynote speakers, Dr. Fei Wang and Dr. Yi-Xian Qin, and panelists, Dr Di Chen and Dr. Jeremy Mao, at the workshop.  From left to right: Dr. Yi-Xian Qin, Dr. Di Chen, Dr. Fei Wang, Dr. Jeremy Mao.

Dr. Wang’s presentation titled “Initiatives of NIH and logistics for applications,” provided an overview of the NIH grant opportunities available for scientists at various stages of career development.  Dr. Qin’s presentation “Grant writing perspective” discussed how to choose an appropriate funding mechanism to apply to, and how to write a proposal with scientific rigor and to avoid potential fatal flaws. The slides from Dr. Fei Wang and Dr. Yi-Xian Qin are available to ICMRS members on the website.

Panel discussion during the Education Workshop.

The panel discussion was co-led by Dr. Wang, Dr. Qin, and panelists Dr. Di Chen, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry at Rush University Medical Center, and Dr. Jeremy Mao, Professor of Dentistry and Director of the Center for Craniofacial Regeneration at Columbia University.  Dr. Chen and Dr. Mao shared some of their personal experiences and lessons regarding the strategy on applying for NIH grants.

Dr. Rocky Tuan addressing a question raised by an ICMRS member.

Dr. Shi-Qing Feng sharing his personal experience with the audience.

Dr. Hongbin Lu giving her persepctive regarding grant applications and writing.

Several ICMRS members in particular raised questions and joined the discussion with the panel, and other participants such as Dr. Rocky Tuan, University of Pittsburg, joined the discussion and shared their valuable insight.  The delegates from China, Dr. Shi-Qing Feng and Dr. Hongbin Lu also attended the meeting and shared their strong enthusiasm and personal experiences with the audience.  Many discussions continued after the meeting, with great feedback and suggestions on the workshop topic.

The Education Committee would like to thank the speakers and panelists for their great contribution and outstanding work, the guidance from the ICMRS leadership, and the participation and support from the ICMRS members.