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Bridging to Success Award

Established in 2016, the Bridging to Success Award supports transitioning pediatric physician-scientists and other researchers involved in pediatric research, who have submitted a NIH funded Career Development Award in the K08 and K23 categories, AHRQ-funded Career Development Awards in K08 and K01 (must be an MD), PhD scientists in K99 and R00 categories, or previously submitted A0 or A1 grant, which although not funded, may be potentially competitive on resubmission (including a 3rd submission) to the NIH.

Submission Deadlines: September 2 and March 2

SubMit a Nomination

Award

Up to four awardees selected annually (up to two in each application window)
$40,000 awarded to the sponsoring institution with no indirect costs to be matched by the institution (disbursed in two installments: $20,000 the first year, and the second installment of $20,000 the following year dependent on the K not being funded)
Honored at the PAS Meeting during second year of award with a presentation of research

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Eligibility Criteria

MD or MD/PhD, MPH, DO, MS, DDS/PhD, DVM applicant who is an SPR Active member or SPR Emerging to Established (E2E) member
There is no limit to the number of applicants from a single institution
This award is meant to serve as a bridge for applicants who have applied for the following funding opportunities:
NIH funded Career Development Awards in the K08 and K23 categories
AHRQ-funded Career Development Awards in the K08 and K01 categories
PhD scientists in the K99 and R00 categories
Eligible candidates must have submitted a previous A0 or A1 application which has been fully reviewed with the application’s Summary Statement. That Summary Statement must be dated within the 2-calendar years of this Request for Application (RFA) or later. Unfortunately, we are not able to consider applications which lack a Summary Statement
Intramural K Award program applications, such as the K12 and KL2 Programs, are not eligible

Application Overview

A Letter of Intent signed by the applicant and sponsoring department chair includes:
Agreement by the sponsoring department/institution to match the SPR award and to contribute the total amount (i.e. SPR award plus department/institution match) to salary and/or research program of the awardee
Agreement that the awardee will have 75% effort protected for research during the award years
Specific Aims page of the supporting K08, K23, AHRQ K08, K01 (must be an MD), K99, R00, A0 or A1 application
Summary Statement from the review of the supporting NIH funded Career Development Awards in the K08 and K23 categories, AHRQ-funded Career Development Awards in K08 and K01 categories, PhD scientists in the K99 and R00 categories, within the 2-calendar years of this Request for Application (RFA). The most recent summary is a requirement; if you have submitted a revision and have not received the summary, you are not eligible to apply
Commitment from the applicant to provide SPR with requested updates on the outcome of the revised K08, K23, AHRQ K08, K01, K99, R00, A0 or A1 application submitted by the applicant after receipt of this award

Based on Main Round review, finalists will be chosen to submit a full package which should include the entire application of applicant’s most recently revised K-Award and:

Cover letter describing the applicant’s current position and how the support will be used for the next 1-2 years
K-Award Application – please provide the entire application of your most recently revised K-Award, including the introduction section with the applicant’s response to reviewers. It should be the newest version with a response to the criticism raised during the review process
Specific plans – please provide a 1-2 page document describing how the applicant plans to respond to the criticisms and revise the K-award application

Selection Process

For submission periods (January 2 – March 2 and July 5 – September 2)

Main Round applications will be reviewed and scored by the SPR Bridging to Success Award Selection Committee; the Co-Chairs will select the top scoring applicants to advance to the Finalist Round
Final Round: Finalists will be invited to submit additional information as outlined in the Final Round Application (in April for the first round, October for the second)
Finalist Round applications will be reviewed and scored by the SPR Bridging to Success Award Selection Committee; the Co-Chairs will select the award recipient(s)
The award recipient(s) will be notified in June (first round) or December (second round)

SubMit a Nomination

Current Recipients

Dr. Maria Estefania Barbian, M.D., is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics within the Division of Neonatology at Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Dr. Barbian investigates the role of maternal microbial metabolites on neonatal intestinal health with the goal of developing novel approaches to prevent necrotizing enterocolitis.

Dr. Barbian received her medical degree from Michigan State University and trained in Pediatrics at Levine Children’s Hospital, where she was also a Chief Resident. Dr. Barbian completed her Neonatology fellowship at Emory University in July 2020. During her Neonatology fellowship, Dr. Barbian investigated the role of the antenatal butyrate supplementation on intestinal health by employing mouse models of intestinal injury. Dr. Barbian has expanded this work to investigate how maternal microbial metabolites in pregnancy influence human milk composition and neonatal intestinal health using in vivo and in vitro models of necrotizing enterocolitis. Dr. Barbian’s K08 application (NIDDK) received a score of 27 and has been resubmitted to NICHD.

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Maria Barbian, MD

Emory University & Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Dr. Stephanie Gilley is an Assistant Professor in the Section of Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She attended undergraduate at Middlebury College in Vermont which is where she first fell in love with scientific research. She then went to Tufts University in Boston where she graduated with a medical degree and a PhD in genetics. She completed her residency in pediatrics, a clinical fellowship in pediatric nutrition and obesity medicine, and a T32 research fellowship at the University of Colorado.

Dr. Gilley’s career combines both clinical practice and research centered on improving pediatric nutritional care. Her research focuses on understanding how maternal nutritional status interacts with dietary intake and growth during infancy and early childhood to influence health across the lifespan. She is particularly interested in metabolic outcomes such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Her research portfolio includes a pre-clinical mouse model, a pilot clinical trial, retrospective studies, and leveraging data from existing cohorts. Dr. Gilley’s clinical practice centers on infants, children and adolescents with growth faltering, malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and feeding difficulties.

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Stephanie Gilley, MD, PhD

University of Colorado

2024 | Neha Joshi, Stanford University School of Medicine
2023 | Sudeepta Basu, Children’s National Hospital
2022 | Matthew Pantell, University of California, San Francisco
2021 | Catherine O. Buck, MD, Yale School of Medicine
2020 | Stephanie A. Roberts, Boston Children’s Hospital
2019 | Teresa Kortz, University of California, San Francisco
2018 | Elizabeth Bhoj, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2017 | Sagori Mukhopadhyay, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia/Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania