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Bulletin:
The 2008 HRA National Conference, "Accelerating Medical Discovery Through Strategic Philanthropy," on March 4-6, 2008, was an exciting event. Conference presentations have now been posted on the HRA National Conference page in the Members-Only portion of the website. CDs containing pdfs of the presentations will be mailed to participants from non-member organizations. You can still access the final agenda here. Conference proceedings are being prepared and will be posted as a pdf when they are complete.
Health Research Alliance members: Registration materials for the September, 2008 HRA Advisory Committee meeting to be hosted by The Flinn Foundation in Phoenix were emailed to members on June 9. Be sure to register by the June 30 deadline. Members click here to access an agenda as well as registration materials.
Is your organization interested in becoming a member of the Health Research Alliance? Find out more.
Health Research Alliance
P.O. Box 13901
21 T. W. Alexander Drive
Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina 27709
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The Grants Administration Working Group addresses a wide range of high-priority operational issues common to funders of health research, by sharing information, showing how a variety of different organizations approach a specific issue, and by defining and sharing recommended approaches and best practices.
Individual Development Plans (IDPs):
In January, 2007, members of the HRA Advisory Committee met to consider the benefits and implications of adding a requirement for an IDP as a component of health research and training awards for postdoctoral fellows and early career investigators. Despite data demonstrating the correlation between the use of IDPs and postdoctoral productivity, IDPs are not widely used in the mentoring of postdoctoral fellows. An IDP is a professional development tool that can help postdoctoral fellows and early career investigators identify professional development needs and career objectives. Specifically, the goals of the IDP are to:- Identify short-term needs to improve performance
- Identify long-term career options and the training necessary to realize those options
- Clarify work expectations
- Foster communication between the advisor and the trainee
The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) has taken a leading role in promoting the use of the IDP. Check out FASEB's description of the goals, benefits and process of the IDP along with a list of references on self-assessment, the postdoctoral experience, career opportunities, and resources on non-academic careers. Also see FASEB's Sample Annual Review .
Description of other topics considered by the Grants Administration Working Group
In December, 2004, the group met in New York City to review conflict of interest policies and in March, 2005, the group met in Philadelphia on the topic of encouraging the mentoring of early career investigators. Mentoring has continued to be a significant interest, and the group has also explored intellectual property and patent policies.
The group periodically reassesses interest in different topics, since both the environment and organizational needs change frequently.
All Alliance members are invited to participate in Grants Administration meetings, conference calls and events. The group is chaired by Pat Hinton, American Heart Association.
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