The Janice Davis Gordon Memorial Postdoctoral Fellowship in Colorectal Cancer Prevention

Application Deadline: Monday, February 19, 2018
Notification to Finalists: Friday, March 9, 2018
Research & Career Proposals Due: Monday, April 9, 2018
Official Notification to Awardees: Friday, April 27, 2018
Anticipated Fellowship Start Date: Mid to late May 2018

• Applicants must have already earned a doctoral degree in health science or related disciplines, by the application deadline.
• May be from backgrounds in the basic biomedical sciences, medicine, biomedical statistics, epidemiology, behavioral and social sciences, nursing and related public health disciplines.
• Proposed research project must be related to colorectal cancer prevention.
• This fellowship is available without regard to the applicant’s U.S. citizenship status.
• Foreign nationals must already be in the U.S. and on a valid and appropriate visa.

Program duration:  The Janice Davis Gordon Memorial Fellowship in Colorectal Cancer Prevention Research is funded for two years, renewed annually pending research progress and availability of funds. 

Postdoctoral stipends are $50,000 and may be subject to a one-time raise, after the first appointment year, if approved by the mentor.  Fringe benefits include health insurance, paid institutional holidays, and annual and sick leave. This fellowship does not provide additional research support for tuition, reference books, meeting registration, travel support, and research costs. Janice Davis Gordon Postdoctoral fellows must consult their mentors for additional research support.  

Phase 1:  Initial Application

Applicants will download all forms from this webpage and submit those items as specified in the application instructions, and in the order listed on the application checklist and coversheet. Successful applicants will be invited to Phase 2.

Phase 2:  Invitation to Submit Research and Career Proposal

Successful applicants from Phase I are considered to be accepted to the fellowship program and will be invited to submit a Research and Career Proposal. The proposal will be reviewed by the CPRTP Advisory Committee, along with other subject matter experts.  Suggestions may be provided for improving the proposal.  Funding for the fellowship is contingent upon proposal approval by the Advisory Committee and Program Directors, as well as processing of appointment paperwork by the Academic and Visa Administration (AVA).

Donor-funded, postdoctoral fellowships are funded for two years.  During this term, all awardees will be required to participate in CPRTP Educational and career activities as outlined on the Fellowship Requirement Memo, which include: 

• Required UTGSBS course: Enroll in the 2-credit hour Cancer Prevention course cross-listed at the UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) and the UT School of Public Health (SPH). Tuition will not be paid by CPRTP. Please consult your mentor for payment.
• Check-in meetings with CPRTP directors:  Four (4) mandatory meetings with CPRTP directors during the course of the fellowship. See Fellowship Requirement Memo for schedule.
• Oral presentations: Trainees will acquire a repertoire of five (5) speaking skills appropriate to the various professional occasions they will encounter. These presentations will be given at CPRTP Summer Research Experience events and Department Faculty Meetings. DCPPS trainees will receive e-mailed announcements of upcoming presentations.

1. Scientific Elevator Speech (90 seconds)
2. 10-minute Research Presentation and Practice Job talk (for a diverse audience)
3. 10-minute TED style talk (suitable for educated public)
4. "Speaking up" (Asking questions and explaining scientific reasoning, in a professional environment)
5. 1-hour formal job talk

• Additional mandatory activities:  Cancer Prevention and Control Grand Rounds, Trainee Forum, Summer Exposition, Responsible Conduct of Research seminars, and any additional career development activities advertised.

• This program requires a minimum of two mentors with complementary expertise in different disciplines is required.  
• At least one mentor's research must be related to colorectal cancer prevention which is the basis of the research project for this fellowship award.
• Additional co-mentors are allowed. 
• Other qualified mentors can have appointments in other MD Anderson departments or in institutions elsewhere.
• At least one mentor must have a faculty appointment at the Assistant Professor level or higher within the Division of Cancer Prevention & Population Sciences at MD Anderson.  Faculty conducting cancer prevention research are concentrated within the following five (5) departments: 1) Behavioral Science 2) Health Disparities Research 3) Clinical Cancer Prevention 4) Epidemiology and 5) Health Services Research. 
• Applicants may also search for potential mentors by browsing the listed faculty directly through the MD Anderson Department pages or using the MD Anderson Faculty and Research search.

To ensure that our program meets the highest standards in selecting fellowship awardees and to enhance the review process, we encourage potential mentors to use the following guidelines when writing a Letter of Support for your fellowship applicant.

Letter Format and Requirements

• All letters should be addressed to Dr. Shine Chang, Director, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Cancer Prevention Research Training Program.
• All letters must be recently dated, signed and on institutional letterhead. Electronic signatures are acceptable.
• Copies of Letters of Support may be included with the merged application submitted by the applicant.
  
• Original Letters of Support may be emailed by the mentor or support staff to apply@cancerpreventiontraining.org.
• Descriptive subject line:  Since we often have multiple fellowships running concurrently, the subject line should include applicant name, fellowship and letter type. Example: Jane Doe, Ph.D., Halliburton Postdoc Fellowship, Letter of Support.
• All letter must be received by the deadline.  Letters submitted without these features may render your application incomplete & denied.
• Letters must address the (3) three areas detailed below and will increase the likelihood that the applicant's application is successful.

The Applicant

• Please address these criteria with respect to the applicant: 
  • In what capacity you know the applicant
  • Potential for conducting research
  • Evidence of originality
  • Adequacy of scientific background
  • Quality of research or publications to date
  • Commitment to cancer prevention research
  • Need for further research experience and training
• State how you would rank the applicant’s overall ability and potential. Top 10%? Top 25%?

The Potential Project

• Include a paragraph describing how the applicant’s proposed general line of research relates to the CPRTP objectives

Your Role As Mentor

• Describe the degree of mentoring capacity you currently have, including number of postdoctoral trainees advised, and where they are today
• Describe how often you will meet with the applicant
• Data and resources your lab has available to support the applicant's proposed line of research
• Your plans for working with other mentors and explain how your expertise complements theirs
• Your capacity to provide required supplementary stipend funds and other research, travel, and supply costs appropriate to the particular mechanism applied for
  
• In a separate paragraph, outline your previous mentoring experience
• List any dissertations you have chaired