NIH Announces Extramural Loan Repayment Programs (LRP)

The National Institutes of Health issued NOT-OD-09-107 to announce the continued availability of educational loan repayment under the extramural Loan Repayment Programs (LRP). This Notice contains general eligibility criteria for all five LRPs. Specific program objectives and eligibility criteria are included in each of the following five specific LRP Notices:

• Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Clinical Researchers (LRP-CR), NOT-OD-09-108
• Extramural Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Program (LRP-PR), NOT-OD-09-109
• Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Health Disparities Research (LRP-HDR) , NOT-OD-09-110
• Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Contraception and Infertility Researchers (LRP-CIR), NOT-OD-09-111
• Extramural Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (LRP-HDR), NOT-OD-09-112

The overall purpose of the extramural LRP is the recruitment and retention of highly qualified health professionals as research investigators. Additional detailed Information about each LRP is provided at http://www.lrp.nih.gov/about/extramural/intro.htm.

The NIH invites qualified health professionals who contractually agree to engage in NIH mission-relevant research for at least two years, and who agree to engage in such research for at least 50 percent of their work schedule (not less than 20 hours per week based on a 40-hour work week), to apply for participation in the extramural LRP.
Each of the five extramural LRPs provide for the repayment of educational loan debt of up to $35,000 annually for qualified health professionals performing research within the mission of NIH at domestic, non-profit, or government entities. The five extramural LRPs have specific eligibility requirements and funding set-asides (see above links to individual LRPs).

LRP applications will be accepted annually from September 1 through December 1, 8:00 p.m. EST. Applications must be submitted electronically using the NIH Loan Repayment Program Website, www.lrp.nih.gov.

See more information in NOT-OD-09-107.

Daniel Organisciak Honored For Vision Research

Daniel T. Organisciak, Ph.D., has been named a 2009 Gold Fellow by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). A professor and former chair of biochemistry and molecular biology at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Organisciak also directs the school’s Petticrew Research Laboratory, which was established in 1995 in honor of Stanley and Mary Petticrew of Springfield, Ohio. Research at the laboratory focuses on the role of environmental light in vision disorders.

ARVO selected Organisciak for the honor based on his accomplishments as a researcher and scientist, in addition to his leadership and activities within the association.  Organisciak joined 71 other ARVO members from around the world in being selected as an inaugural Gold Fellow.

The ARVO Fellow designation was created to recognize longstanding members with an extensive record of research and service. Fellows are encouraged to serve as role models and mentors and to advance the association’s mission to promote vision research and prevent and cure of disorders of the visual system. Read more

Richard Sherwood Appointed LHRC Director

Richard J. Sherwood, Ph.D., associate professor of community health and pediatrics, has been appointed director of the Lifespan Health Research Center (LHRC) within the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine Department of Community Health.

Sherwood came to the LHRC in 2003 as a visiting scientist from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He joined the center as a full-time faculty member two years later.

An accomplished teacher, prolific writer and passionate researcher, Sherwood is especially interested in craniofacial biology, quantitative genetics, phylogenetic reconstruction and hominin evolutionary biology. He has conducted research in Nepal, Pakistan, Kenya and Tanzania, and his current research includes three R01 grants from the National Institutes of Health.

The Lifespan Health Research Center conducts research related to the changes that occur in individuals throughout their life span. Home of the Fels Longitudinal Study, the world’s largest and longest running study on human growth and body composition, the center’s major emphases involve growth, maturation and aging, body composition, risk factors for cardiovascular disease and the genetic epidemiology of complex traits.  Read more