Investing in young scientists and clinicians worldwide

2021 AO Spine Research Start-Up Grant program supports 12 projects

 
AO Spine continues to identify, engage, and mentor talent with the 2021 AO Spine 2021 Research Start-Up Grant program, which recently awarded seed funding for twelve clinical and translational research projects to be carried out by young scientists and clinicians around the world.

Under the leadership of the AO Spine Research Commission, the program provides seed money to support young researchers in the early stages of their careers. The program is open to AO investigators 40 years old and younger who are within five years of completing a professional degree or initiating their first assistant professorship at an academic institution. Each one-year AO Spine Research Start-Up Grant is for up to CHF 25,000.

Sixty-five applicants answered the open call in March 2021. In a blinded peer-review process conducted through scientific evaluation by the AO Spine Research Commission, proposals were assessed for scientific merit, clinical relevance, and feasibility. Of all proposals submitted, 54% were clinical projects involving human subjects and 46% were translational research projects. 

Age

Applicants’ mean age was 34 years old; the youngest applicant was 24 years old.

 

Applicants’ focuses

  • Degenerative spinal disorders

    35%

  • Deformity

    17%

  • Tumors

    17%

  • Spinal cord injury

    11%

  • Trauma

    9%

  • Other

    11%

Regions

All five AO Spine regions were represented in response to the open call:

  • Europe and Southern Africa

    15%

  • Asia Pacific

    23%

  • North America

    18%

  • Middle East and Northern Africa

    5%

  • Latin America

    3%

 
AO Spine continues to identify, engage, and mentor talent with the 2021 AO Spine 2021 Research Start-Up Grant program, which recently awarded seed funding for twelve clinical and translational research projects to be carried out by young scientists and clinicians around the world.

Under the leadership of the AO Spine Research Commission, the program provides seed money to support young researchers in the early stages of their careers. The program is open to AO investigators 40 years old and younger who are within five years of completing a professional degree or initiating their first assistant professorship at an academic institution. Each one-year AO Spine Research Start-Up Grant is for up to CHF 25,000.

Sixty-five applicants answered the open call in March 2021. In a blinded peer-review process conducted through scientific evaluation by the AO Spine Research Commission, proposals were assessed for scientific merit, clinical relevance, and feasibility. Of all proposals submitted, 54% were clinical projects involving human subjects and 46% were translational research projects.