Applying for F31 - My experience

Aya Mitani
January 15, 2021

My application

  • Title: Modeling Dental Disease Progression in a Longitudinal Study
  • Institute: National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
  • School: Boston University School of Public Health
  • Department: Biostatistics
  • Submitted for April 8, 2017 cycle (3rd year of PhD)
  • Awarded from September, 2017 to August, 2019 (4th and 5th years of PhD)

Mentoring team

  • Sponsor: Kerrie Nelson (Biostatistics)
    • My primary advisor
  • Co-sponsor: Liz Kaye (Dental School)
    • Subject expert
    • Provide data
  • Co-sponsor: Howard Cabral (Biostatistics)
    • Senior professor with many mentees
    • Collaborates with dental researchers
  • Contributor: Josée Dupuis (Chair, Biostatistics)
    • Senior professor with many mentees
    • Career development

Pros and cons of applying

Pros

  • Able to think through your dissertation
    • Use the application as your dissertation proposal
  • If awarded, you can work on your dissertation full time
  • Looks great on your CV
  • You gain the experience of writing a grant

Cons

  • Requires a lot of work
  • Need to prioritize preparing the application
  • Pause/slow down on dissertation progress
  • May need to take additional courses as part of your “training”

How it helped me

Professionally

  • I had budget to purchase equipment (computer monitor, wireless keyboard, books)
  • I had budget to travel to conferences
  • I was able to create new relationships with faculty from my department and from the dental school
    • I gained expertise in a new field
  • I have been successful on the job market

Personally

  • Paid maternity leave and vacation
  • My son could attend daycare part-time as opposed to full-time

Timeline

Year Date Task
2016 Nov Formed mentoring team
Dec Literature review
Began writing (started with Specific Aims)
2017 Jan-Mar Preliminary data analysis
Write, write, write
Mar 31 Submitted to Office of Sponsored Programs
Reference letters submitted through eRA commons
Apr 7 Submitted to NIH

Timeline continued

Year Date Event
2017 Jun 15 Scientifi Review Group (Study Section) met
Jun 19 Score posted
Jul 5 Summary Statements posted
Jul 11 Phone call with Program Officer
Aug 1 Received email that my application was selected for funding, pending Just in Time (JIT)
Aug 15 JIT link prepared
Aug 23 Submitted JIT through OSP
Sep 12 Received Notice of Award
Sep 14 Submitted Activation Notice through OSP

Highlights from my review

Strength

  • Possess necessary qualifications and experience in the proposed area of research
  • Good publication record
  • Excellent mentoring team and training environment
  • Strong letters of support
  • “Given the paucity of biostatisticians with expertise and experience in analysis of dental data, the training of the next generation of biostatisticians with this knowledge should be a top priority”

Weakness

  • Data was from the VA so only men were included in the analysis
  • Insufficient information on Protection of Human Subjects
    • Inclusion of Women Plan was unacceptable
    • Inclusion of Children Plan was unacceptable

To do

Notify your intention to:

  • Primary advisor
  • Department chair
  • Department grant manager
  • Department financial manager

eRA Commons

  • Create an account
  • Change your status to “principal investigator”
  • Change your sponsor's status to “sponsor”

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