Award Recognition

The American Burn Association is pleased to offer to its members a number of awards, grants, and fellowship opportunities to advance the educational and research needs of burn care professionals.  Following is a brief summary of many of the ABA 's major programs in this area.  For further information or to obtain an application, send an email to info@ameriburn.org or call the ABA Central Office at (800) 548-2876 or (312) 642-9260. 

Education Exchange Program
The Education Exchange Program provides funds to non-physician ABA members who wish to visit other burn centers to gain added clinical expertise in burn care.  A maximum amount of $1,500 is provided to the successful applicant to reimburse incurred expenses associated with the Program.  Up to 3 grants are awarded per year by the ABA Education Committee.  Applications must be received at least 3 months before the anticipated start of the Program, and an applicant should be an ABA member for at least one year.

International Education Exchange Program
Th e International Education Exchange Program provides funds for members of the burn care team from other nations, particularly developing countries, to visit burn units in the United States or Canada.  A maximum reimbursement of $2,000 is provided to the successful applicant to help defray the cost of travel expenses. Up to 3 grants are awarded per year by the ABA Education Committee.  Applications must be received at least 3 months before the anticipated start of the Program.  Although primarily directed toward non-physicians, physicians from developing countries will also be considered for the Program. 

Visiting Professor Program
The Visiting Professor Program provides funds for physicians, educators, or specialists to present their expertise in burns at a hosted burn center facility/institution.  The award, a maximum of $2,000, is granted to the facility; it can be used to provide an honorarium to the Visiting Professor and/or to help defray the cost of his/her travel expenses.  It is strongly suggested, but not required, that the proposed Visiting Professor be an ABA member. Up to 3 grants are awarded per year by the ABA Education Committee.  Applications must be received at least 3 months before the anticipated start of the Program, and should be made by the requesting institution-not the Visitor.

Burn Prevention Award
The Burn Prevention Award is awarded at the ABA Annual Meeting to an ABA member for contribution in at least one of the following four areas:  (1) Prevention effort shall have worldwide, nationwide, or statewide impact; (2) If on a local level, it must be replicated in two or more local areas and serve as a model of prevention effort; (3) The collection and reporting of epidemiological data should serve as the basis for state or national prevention efforts; (4) It should have a major influence on shaping the careers of other burn prevention workers. An individual is eligible for this award each year if the work is new and significant and continues to fulfill at least one of the above criteria. The award, under the auspices of the ABA Burn Prevention Committee, includes an honorarium of $1,500. Individuals wishing to nominate an ABA member for this award must submit the completed nomination forms by January 30.

Traveling Fellowship
The Traveling Fellowship award is given at the ABA Annual Meeting to an ABA physician member or postdoctoral fellow who has given evidence of a continuing interest and productivity in the field of burn care, teaching, or research. A candidate's work in the field is anticipated to continue after the proposed travel, and to be advanced by the travel.  A maximum reimbursement of $5,000 is provided to the successful applicant to underwrite the recipient's travel expenses. For award consideration, candidates should submit:  (1) a CV; (2) a letter detailing the travel that she/he proposes to undertake that identifies the specific benefits related to her/his career development to be obtained from the travel; and (3) a letter of support from the chief of a surgical service or burn center with which the applicant is associated.  Materials must be submitted by January 1.

President's Continuing Education Grant
The President's Continuing Education Grant is given at the ABA Annual Meeting to a non-physician member who has made significant contributions to the care of the burned patient.  The grant is designed to allow personal development via continuing education.  The award amount of $500 cannot be used to finance continuing education as part of a degree program. Applicants must be sponsored by a physician who submits a letter outlining the applicant's outstanding contribution to the field of burn care. Up to 3 grants per year are awarded; selection is made by the ABA President. Applications must be submitted by January 1. 

Other Awards-The International Association of Fire Fighters

The IAFF Burn Foundation recognizes the need of the burn community in North America to improve the quality of burn care.

The IAFF Burn Foundation is committing itself to two goals over the next five years:

* To hasten the development of practice guidelines in burn care by facilitating the performance of high-quality clinical research in burns.
* To take advantage of the excellent research programs already in place in burn centers to study acute and chronic health problems of fire fighters exposed to smoke inhalation.

The upper limit for each grant award is $25,000, and is funded for one year periods only; in some cases applications for one additional year of funding will be accepted. Deadline for grant applications is January 30, 2009.

Beginning with the next cycle of applications on January 30, 2009, the following preferences will be used to identify grant applications that correspond to the priority of fostering the growth of evidence-based medicine in burns:

* epidemiological studies
* retrospective studies
* prospective observational studies
* practice guidelines
* pilot studies for prospective interventional studies

Applications will be encouraged from young or new investigators. Emphasis will be on new investigations and novel projects. Projects through the ABA Multicenter Trials Group or other multicenter clinical trial agencies will be given priority.

In order to expand the role of the IAFF Burn Foundation Medical Board into facilitating health and wellness research for firefighters, applications that study either acute or chronic health issues related to firefighter exposure to smoke and other toxins will also be given precedence.

Studies that focus on experiments in systems using human tissues, cells or genomic material have to demonstrate a clear and relevant relationship with clinical outcomes at the bedside. No studies using experimentation in animal tissues, cells or genomic material will be funded.

Although all topics related to burn prevention, acute care and rehabilitation are considered relevant, the members of the Medical Advisory Board note that on two occasions in the last two years there have been consensus conferences dedicated to establishing priorities for burn research. Topics from these consensus conferences clearly have the advantage of recognition of their importance by the burn scientific community. The priorities established at these conferences can be accessed at http://www.ameriburn.org/SOSMeeting.php.

A standardized form has been created for reviewing the applications; it can be viewed on the IAFF Burn Foundation website at http://burn.iaff.org/grants.html. At the completion of the scoring process, a letter will be sent back to the principal investigator with the score, the decision of the Board of Medical Advisors, and recommendations for modification of the grant application. If the Board of Medical Advisors believes that there is a reasonable chance of funding if certain changes are made, this will be clearly stated. Conversely, if the Board of Medical Advisors does not believe that the application will be funded even with changes, an appropriate statement will be made.

Productivity will be emphasized. The Principal Investigator will be responsible for interim and final progress reports. The IAFF Burn Foundation must be cited in every publication.

Once again, deadline for grant applications is January 30, 2009.

IAFF Board of Medical Advisors
Michael D. Peck, MD, ScD (Chairman)
Brett D. Arnoldo, MD
Robert C. Cartotto, MD
Matthew B. Klein, MD
Tina L. Palmieri, MD