Emory University School Of Medicine Establishes Cottrell Fellowships
Program
The Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation has awarded Emory University
School of Medicine a four-year grant of $263,560 to establish a new
postdoctoral fellowship program for outstanding biomedical graduates.
The Cottrell Fellowships not only will provide highly competitive stipend
support for postgraduate research training, but also will provide additional
support for personal research expenses as well as unique opportunities
for professional and career development.
The Cottrell fellowships program will fund at least six fellows for
two years each, with an optional third year of funding provided by the
Emory faculty adviser or arranged through extramural fellowship funding.
In addition, Emory School of Medicine will fund two additional Cottrell
Fellows. The fellowships program will include professional skills training
through a personal advisory committee, advanced training and travel
opportunities, mentored grant preparation and job search guidance, career
workshops, and participation in the NIH-funded FIRST program (Fellowships
in Research and Science Teaching).
The Tucson, Arizona technology development company, Research Corporation
Technologies (RCT), formed the Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation
in 2001. The foundation recognizes the founder of Research Corporation,
the first organization to facilitate commercialization of promising
technologies from U.S. colleges, universities and other research institutions.
"The Cottrell Fellowships recognize the unique contributions of postdoctoral
fellows to our research programs and to the overall advancement of science,"
said Thomas J. Lawley, MD, dean of Emory University School of Medicine.
"It is imperative that we provide appropriate funding and support to
these scientists and educators who contribute leadership, technological
skills, and new knowledge that can further discovery and also attract
additional research funding."
Emory University School of Medicine currently trains approximately 430
postdoctoral fellows within 26 basic and clinical departments. The number
of fellows has increased 69 percent since 1999, when the School’s Office
of Postdoctoral Education was established to provide increased support
of postdoctoral recruitment and training as a stimulus to research growth.
"The Cottrell Foundation has created an innovative postdoctoral award
program and we are very excited to be part of it," said Susan Rich,
PhD, assistant dean for postdoctoral education in Emory School of Medicine,
who along with Emory professors Timothy Greenamyre, MD, PhD and Jeremy
Boss, PhD, will oversee the program. "The Cottrell Fellow awards will
enhance the capacity of our faculty to recruit postdoctoral fellows
with exceptional promise," Dean Rich said. "Moreover, the Cottrell Fellows
will benefit greatly, not only from excellent financial support, but
also from tailored professional development guidance that should prepare
them to achieve outstanding positions in biomedical research. We are
very grateful for the support of the Cottrell Foundation, and for the
interest and support of the Dean in creation of this program."
Scott Pyron, Ph, RCT’s business development director for the southeastern
and southwestern United States, said the Cottrell postdoctoral funds
are well placed at Emory.
"Emory’s outstanding commitment to its postdoctoral community is evident
in the enthusiasm with which the university developed the Cottrell Fellowship
program," he said. "The Cottrell Foundation is pleased to be a partner
in an endeavor that promises to be a great success."
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