Foundation Scientific Advisory Council

Opportunity Overview

The Foundation Scientific Advisory Council has the following open positions. All positions are hybrid (both virtual and in-person activities expected of the volunteer).

• ACR Member-at-Large (4)
• ARP Member-at-Large (1)
• Fellow-in-Training (1)

Eligibility

Please review the volunteer eligibility guidelines based on your member type and industry involvement before submitting a volunteer application.
Volunteer Eligibility Guidelines >

Council Description

The Foundation Scientific Advisory Council oversees the implementation and success of the Foundation’s comprehensive awards and grants program.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with Foundation staff on grant administration, peer review and assessment
• Be assigned a liaison role to a specific study section
• Review awardee requests submitted for assigned Liaison role and approve or deny based on Awards & Grants policies
• Annual review of all Requests for Applications and overarching Awards & Grants Policies
• Make funding recommendations based on peer review scoring and feedback to send to Foundation Board of Directors for final approval
• Review annual progress reports submitted by awardees to assess award progression based on proposed benchmarks and ensure Foundation funding is being spent appropriately
• Review final reports to identify award outcomes and highly successful projects to be used to demonstrate impact
• Advise on additional programs-related topics as needed

The RRF staff is responsible for the administration and project management of all initiatives and programs.

Time Commitments

Meetings

• January: About 4 hours (virtual)
• May: In-person in conjunction with Investigators Meeting
• August: 1-hour meting to review funding recommendations for Education & Training Award (virtual)
• October: 1-hour meeting to review funding recommendations for Career Development Awards (virtual)
• November: 4 hours; not in conjunction with ACR Convergence (virtual)

Asynchronous Work

• About 2–3 hours per month

Recommended Qualifications

The Foundation Scientific Advisory Council welcomes all interested volunteers. The council’s work needs specific qualifications for the following roles:

• Liaison to Education and Training Awards: Typically, a Program Director or Clinician Scholar Educator
• Liaison to Bridge Funding Awards: Academic Investigator at the K award level or higher
• Liaison to Innovative Research Awards, Basic Science: Academic Investigator at the R award level
• Liaison to Practice Awards: Practicing rheumatologist or Advanced Practice Provider
• ARP Rep: To be selected by ARP’s Committee on Nominations and Appointments 

Interested participants for this council should have knowledge or experience in one or more of the following areas:

• Requires strong familiarity with Foundation mission, programming and peer review process
• Commitment to advancing the mission of the Foundation
• Recognized or emerging leader in academic rheumatology with knowledge of medical education and training, and/or research grant submission, evaluation and management
• Ability to solve problems in group or team settings, achieving consensus on complicated issues
• Ability to deliver consistent, high quality, and timely work products, including concise and objective critiques of research projects
• Previous or current service on other peer-review or grants policy committees
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality