Dear Colleagues,
IPITA is once again pleased to offer research fellows the opportunity to apply for the Derek Gray Distinguished Traveling Scholarship Award based upon demonstrated research merit and future potential for both scholarly academic research and a commitment to the training of research scientists in the fields of islet and/or pancreas transplantation. The $10,000 USD scholarship provides financial support to travel to two or more institutions across the world in order to broaden the laboratory-based research experience of the scholar during his/her formative research training. The recipient will also have the opportunity to learn from established laboratory investigators in the fields of islet and pancreas transplantation biology.
Applicant Eligibility – The Traveling Scholarship will be awarded to a post-doctoral research fellow or trainee with a PhD, MD, or MD/PhD degree who demonstrates scientific merit and future potential for academic research and mentorship of trainees in the fields of islet and/or pancreas transplantation. The applicant will be judged solely on merit. An ideal candidate would be an individual who has not yet reached the level of Assistant Professor or an equivalent junior faculty position, and within 5 years of receiving their advanced degree. The applicant must have a trainee or full IPITA membership. If you wish to apply for the award, please complete the application online. Only online applications will be accepted.
“At the 2015 IPITA-IXA-CTS Joint Congress in Melbourne, Australia I was awarded the Derek Gray Distinguished Travelling Scholarship. As a surgeon and post-doctoral scientist, I am involved in pancreas and human islet transplantation. My research focuses on analyzing the demographic, proteomic and genetic variables that influence islet graft outcomes. My other fields of research are encapsulated islet xenotransplantation, alternative sites for islet transplantation and stem cell-based immunomodulation.
The award has proved invaluable and has provided me with the opportunity to visit world-leading centers and meet experts in the field of both pancreas and islet transplantation. I was able to visit the Transplant Surgery Department and human islet isolation facilities at the University of California, San Francisco and University of Wisconsin, USA, and the Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Oxford, UK.
My research and career have significantly benefitted from these visits. I am wholly grateful to IPITA for awarding me the scholarship. It has allowed me the opportunity to meet and learn from outstanding mentors and colleagues in the islet and pancreas transplantation field around the world."
Raphael P.H. Meier, MD-PhD
Transplant Surgery
University Hospital of Geneva
Switzerland
“At the 2013 IPITA congress in Monterey I was awarded the Derek Gray Distinguished Travelling Scholarship. As a post-doctoral scientist I am involved in human islet isolation and transplantation, and my research focuses on understanding the detailed structure of the pancreas, in particular the islet-exocrine interface and its digestion during the isolation procedure, in order to improve islet isolation outcomes. The award has proved invaluable and has provided me with the opportunity to visit world-leading centres and meet experts in the field of both islet transplantation and extracellular matrix biology. I was able to visit human islet isolation facilities at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston and the University of San Francisco, USA. My research has significantly benefitted from visiting the Wellcome Centre for Cell Matrix Research at the University of Manchester, UK. I am wholly grateful to IPITA for awarding me the scholarship. It has led to some excellent opportunities and has significantly helped further my scientific career.”
Sarah Cross, PhD
Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences
Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism
University of Oxford
The Transplantation Society
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