2021 Career Development

Organized by: ORS New Investigator Mentoring Committee

The Mentor Match Program has been revamped for 2020-2021!

We will develop a vertical mentor ladder such that senior trainees (e.g. Postdocs and residents) will provide mentoring to junior trainees (Graduate/medical/ undergraduate students), while also being mentored by a more senior scientist (e.g. Faculty, Industry Scientist).

This timeline will allow development of the mentoring relationship prior to the ORS 2021 Annual Meeting, with the goal of on-going mentoring through September 2021.

Applications are now closed. Thank you!

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Organized by: ORS Membership Committee

Join us to meet your colleagues, new members and others experiencing the Annual Meeting for the first time. After introductions we will have breakout rooms open, each with a different focus:

• Career development opportunities: transitions from early career to established; awards; participation and volunteering with the ORS
• ORS Research Sections and the benefits of connecting in unique, smaller, specialized groups.
• Community networks and programs

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Organized by: ORS Associate Members Forum

This annual session serves as a networking event for students/trainees and aims to foster collaboration by bringing together a diverse group of young members from different environments and disciplines and inclusive of all areas of interest.

Targeted Audience:  Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, Residents, Post-Docs, and Fellows, and early career industry professionals.

9:45 AM – 11:15 AM

Organizer: Linda J. Sandell, PhD, JOR Editor in Chief

The goal of this year’s workshop is to provide a tutorial on how to review a manuscript. Topics include the importance of peer review, how to review a manuscript and the role of reviewing in your career. Participants will be invited to participate in group round table discussions with JOR’s Associate Editors.

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Organized by: ORS Women’s Leadership Forum & ORS New Investigator Mentoring Committee

This workshop on Exploring Funding Mechanisms: Beyond NIH will provide ORS meeting attendees the opportunity to learn about alternative funding opportunities as well as the application and review process. During the workshop principal investigators and program officers will present their perspectives on the types of funding available as well as the application and review process for alternative funding including through the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), National Science Foundation (NSF) and Orthopedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF). Following these presentations, all presenters will participate in a panel to address questions from attendees regarding the process. The program officers will also participate in the Program Officer-Investigator Networking Session later in the ORS program.

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM

Organized by: ORS Women’s Leadership Forum & ORS New Investigator Mentoring Committee

This Networking session will follow the ‘Exploring Funding Mechanisms Part 1: Beyond NIH and provide ORS meeting attendees with an opportunity to better understand funding policies of the agencies represented in Part 1, as well as the NIH, through one-on-one personal interaction with program staff. This session will allow the attendees to ask specific questions and participate in small group discussions with grant review administrators and program officers. Participants can get their questions answered and learn what funding opportunities are available and which grant mechanisms are right for investigators from all career stages and disciplines.

2:45 PM – 3:45 PM

Organized by: ORS New Investigator Mentoring Committee and ORS Associate Members Forum

Are you planning to apply for your first faculty position in the next year?  The ORS 2021 Annual Meeting will host the 1^st Annual Future Faculty Poster Session. Participants will provide a one-page summary of their training and research accomplishments, which will be available online to ORS members prior to the annual meeting. Participants will also have the opportunity to present a poster highlighting plans for their independent labs at a designated poster session during the annual meeting. Learn more.

9:45 AM – 11:15 AM

Organized by: ORS Women’s Leadership Forum & ORS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

As stated by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine;

“The integrity of knowledge that emerges from research is based on individual and collective adherence to core values of objectivity, honesty, openness, fairness, accountability, and stewardship. Integrity in science means that the organizations in which research is conducted encourage those involved to exemplify these values in every step of the research process. Understanding the dynamics that support – or distort – practices that uphold the integrity of research by all participants ensures that the research enterprise advances knowledge.”

Inclusion and acceptance of gender and ethnic diversity promotes progress.  We will debate these complex topics and provide a new lens with which to view the research process.

Support for this program provided by:

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM

Organized by: ORS New Investigator Mentoring Committee

Running an academic research lab is quite similar to running a start-up. While researchers receive didactic and experiential training in scientific investigation, they often lag proper training in research finances. This lack of training can impose significant challenges in career of young investigators who are trying to advance their academic career and to grow their research program. This workshop will cover topics related to budgeting and resource management for early stage principal investigators. Particularly, the workshop will be focused on strategies to leverage available financial resources to grow your research program and to advance your career towards becoming a financially independent established investigator. Speakers at different stages of academic career will discuss the pathway towards developing a financially independent and sustainable research program.

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM

Organized by: ORS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee & ORS New Investigator Mentoring Committee

Academia is a stressful career path with frequent rejection and continual comparison with peers. At all stages, from graduate school to full professor, we are evaluated on our accomplishments and how we measure up. It is natural to internalize these questions and have self-doubt. However, without proper support, occasional self-doubt can become constant and lead to feelings of inadequacy and exclusion. This is particularly pernicious for under-represented populations, leading to self-selection out of the academic career path and lack of diversity. This environment can cause those at all levels of academia to experience “imposter syndrome” which is characterized by feelings of inadequacy, despite evidence of success, and the fear of being exposed as a “fraud” i.e. an imposter. In this workshop, speakers will discuss the causes and effects of imposter syndrome as well as methods for managing these feelings. Opportunities for institutions to improve external support for trainees and faculty will also be presented. Finally, established investigators within the musculoskeletal research community will share their own experiences with imposter syndrome and provide personal advice on perseverance. The presentations will be followed by an open discussion with questions from the audience.

1:45 PM – 2:45 PM

Organized by: ORS New Investigator Mentoring Committee

A career in research is often reliant upon building a portfolio of research projects, managing risk versus reward, and establishing a niche. This session covers the management of research directions at various career stages: from transitioning your postdoctoral work into an independent laboratory as an early investigator to expanding project boundaries as an established investigator. We will discuss strategies to build and maintain a strong research program while simultaneously adopting novel cutting-edge technologies that may be more risky. We will also cover topics that include finding your research niche in a competitive field, establishing platform technologies that can then be applied to multiple projects, and leveraging or changing your institutional/academic environment to build your desired research environment.

8:15 AM – 9:15 AM

Organized by: ORS New Investigator Mentoring Committee & ORS Women’s Leadership Forum

A well-crafted high impact biosketch can be the difference between having an NIH grant/fellowship funded and not. Your biosketch is a window into who you are as a scientist and why you are the best person to lead/support a project. This program will cover the key aspects of a high impact biosketch for the NIH and provide tips on what to do and not to do when preparing this document. This program will begin with 3 short talks on various aspects of crafting your biosketch including, but not limited to how to (1) write a compelling personal statement, (2) tailor your “contributions to science” section to a specific proposal, and (3) effectively communicate your expertise to reviewers. Following the talks, we will have tables set up around the room for participants to ask experts in the field how to improve their individual biosketches.

You will be asked to submit your biosketch and questions ahead of time if you would like to receive specific feedback.

Pre-Registration Required to guarantee your participation.