ORS 2025 Young Investigator Initiative (YII)
May 2 – 4, 2025
Orthopaedic Learning and Education Center
Rosemont, IL

The ORS Young Investigator Initiative (YII) is a grant mentoring and career development program that provides young investigators with guidance on constructing well-founded research proposals and securing funding for basic, translational, or clinical research.

This Program is open to all Junior Faculty, Fellows, Post-Doctoral Researchers and Residents. Previous attendees are also invited to return to review their Summary Statements, discuss next steps, and obtain further guidance from our experienced and supportive faculty mentors.

There will be two YII Sessions in 2025 – the Spring Session May 2-4, and the Fall Session November 1-2. Both will take place at the Orthopaedic Learning and Education Center in Rosemont, IL.

Registrations for both Spring and Fall 2025 Sessions are now being accepted.

Register Now

The Young Investigator Initiative (YII), a former program of the U.S Bone and Joint Initiative (USBJI), is now owned and operated by the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS).

The 2024 YII workshop took place on April 12 – 14, 2024 in Rosemont, IL. 17 participants worked with 8 faculty members who provided guidance on how to write and submit successful research grants for funding their musculoskeletal science. In addition to didactic presentations, the young investigators received one-on-one mentorship from 3 or more faculty who have been awarded numerous grants during their careers. These pearls of wisdom included how to respond to reviewer comments to make their grant resubmission more competitive for funding

Agenda Highlights

  • Approach to Specific Aims (Introduction; Justification, Feasibility, and Preliminary Data; Research Design; Expected Outcomes; and Potential Problems and Alternative Strategy)
  • Roundtable table discussions on Start Up Funds, Effective Use of Money, Institutional Environment, Salary Negotiation, and Joint Appointments
  • Research Strategy and Innovation
  • Group Mentoring
  • Mock Study Session
  • Alternative Funding Sources
View YII 2024 Agenda

Comments from 2024 Participants

“This program was an amazing opportunity to gain insight into the grant writing and review process. The faculty and peer feedback were extremely helpful. This is a worthwhile use of your time!”

“This was one of the most useful things I have done ever. I feel this program alone will help me significantly improve my chances of getting funding. There are always people that will say that a grant doesn’t read well or it needs more clarity but couldn’t clearly express what that meant. I finally understood.”

“It gave me more confidence to submit my grants – the feedback was very positive.”

For questions about the program, please contact Shari Centrone at [email protected].