Faculty Development & Awards

The SOM faculty travel award for Child, Elder, or Dependent Care has been available since 2008. In fact, our team has published about this work.

Eligibility

• School of Medicine faculty member who holds an appointment with a step designation
• Rank: Assistant, Associate, Professor
• Series: Adjunct, Clinical X, HS Clinical, In Residence, Ladder Rank

Award

• Maximum $2,000 for one professional conference/meeting
• Faculty members may receive up to two (2) travel awards during their career at UCSF.

Criteria

1. The Faculty Travel Award is for faculty members who have significant childcare, eldercare, or other dependent care responsibilities and who plan to attend a professional conference/meeting.
2. The Faculty Travel Award is intended to support professional development by facilitating dissemination of scholarship and expansion of professional networks. The faculty member must give a presentation, serve as a moderator, convene a research consortium, or otherwise demonstrate that attending the conference is important for career advancement. Examples include giving a talk or moderating a panel at a professional conference, presenting grand rounds or serving as visiting professor at an academic program, convening a planning meeting for a multi-center clinical study, or attending a leadership development conference.
3. The purpose of the award is not simply to enable family members to accompany the faculty member to the professional conference/meeting; there must be a reason that they need to travel with the faculty member. The faculty member must utilize the Faculty Travel Award funds to support childcare, elder care or other dependent care expenses that are incurred directly in conjunction with the faculty member's attendance at the professional conference/meeting.
4. Given the new campus policies (travel-related dependent care; reimbursing dependent care with external funds), eligible funds from your department and/or travel grants should be used first since the SOM travel award only covers limited eligible dependent expenses. To comply with regulations, UCSF must continue to proactively protect our research enterprise from threats and manage research security risks. Applicants are required to consult with the UCSF Export Control Office and Risk Advisory and Insurance Services (RAIS) depending on the intended destination. Please refer to: https://compliance.ucsf.edu/tools-training 

Application Process

1. Contact Ms. Sheila Quimpo via email at [email protected] regarding details about what qualifies as a dependent, and examples of allowable and unallowable expenses. Faculty then can complete the application.
2. Prepare a budget that describes how the Faculty Travel Award funds will be used to support expenses for childcare, eldercare or dependent care. Expenses may be incurred at either the site of the professional conference/meeting or at home.
3. Submit a one paragraph description that summarizes why this funding is important and how participation in the professional conference/meeting and the presentation will enhance career advancement.
4. Funding must be requested at least one month ahead of travel and notification will occur within two weeks of receipt of the application.
5. Any change to the approved budget should be submitted in advance for review and approval.
6. Awards are granted on a rolling basis throughout the year until the funds have been expended.

Click here for application.

*If you have any questions, contact Sheila Quimpo at 476-4237 or via email at [email protected].

The Irene Perstein Award is awarded annually by the UCSF School of Medicine to an outstanding, newly recruited, junior woman scientist. This unique award honors the legacy of Ms. Irene Perstein, who donated funds to support junior women faculty at UCSF. Read about the 2024 awardees and 2023 awardees, Drs. Karly Murphy and Bridget Ostrem.

Eligibility

Eligible candidates include women faculty members who started their initial appointment as Assistant Professor (regardless of series) between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023, who are expected to develop a high caliber independent research program in basic, clinical, or translational science. The award is for up to $80,000 total and may be used for salary support, staff, or equipment.

Previous Awardees

2024: Sheiphali Gandhi, MD, MPH, Courtney Lane-Donovan, MD, PhD, and Monica Yang, MD
2023: Karly Murphy, MD, MHS, MSc and Bridget Ostrem, MD, PhD

Nominations

Nominations should be submitted by the Department Chair/ORU Director. The nomination packet should include four components: 1) a one-page (maximum) letter from the Chair or ORU Director that describes the candidate’s qualifications; and 2) a one-page (excluding citations) letter from the candidate which describes the proposed research and the anticipated impact of the Irene Perstein award; and 3) the candidate’s current CV; and 4) the candidate's offer letter

Applications & Selection Criteria

Applications should be addressed to Paul Garcia, MD, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and submitted in a single PDF to Oriol Zales.

Selection criteria include:

1. Scientific merit of the proposal, including novelty/innovation (if applicable, include factors that limit current funding opportunities), feasibility and the potential impact on human health
2. Anticipated impact of the Irene Perstein award on the candidate’s research program and academic career. The ideal candidate has not yet secured a large extramural grant or benefitted from a large start-up package.

Timeline
Request for Applications (RFA)	March 25, 2024
Applications Due	May 6, 2024
Award Notification	June 14, 2024

The School of Medicine Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of Diversity and Outreach sponsor the registration fee for up to 4 faculty members who have been accepted by the AAMC to attend each of the seminars listed below. All remaining expenses (CME, transportation, lodging, etc.) are paid by the faculty member and/or the faculty member’s department/ORU/division.

The Early Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar is designed for women physicians and scientists with a faculty appointment at UCSF with a minimum of two years’ experience as an Assistant Professor. The date of the next seminar is February 24- 27, 2025, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Mid-Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar is designed for women physicians and scientists with a faculty appointment at UCSF with a minimum of two years’ experience as an Associate Professor. The date of the next seminar is December 2-5, 2024 in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico.

The Minority Faculty Leadership Development Seminar is designed for junior faculty (clinical instructors and assistant professors) who aspire to leadership positions in academic medicine. The date of the next seminar is TBA.

The Mid-Career Minority Faculty Seminar is designed for faculty members at the associate professor level who aspire to leadership positions in academic medicine. October 16-18, 2024 in Washington D.C.