Patricia L. Brubaker Trainee Awards 2023/2024
(Formerly the Annual Trainee Awards)
The Patricia L. Brubaker Trainee Awards were established to honour Dr. Patricia Brubaker, a world-leading expert on GLP-1 and GLP-2 whose work has contributed to breakthroughs in therapies for type 2 diabetes and short bowel syndrome. Now a Professor Emerita at the University of Toronto’s Departments of Physiology and Medicine, she is an award-winning researcher, educator, and mentor to generations of trainees. The Patricia L. Brubaker Trainee Awards will be annually awarded to trainees for the best poster presentations at the BBDC Scientific Day.
Description
Graduate, undergraduate and medical students, postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows and medical residents are invited to submit an abstract of their diabetes-related research for this competition. The top ten will be invited to present a poster, in person, at the BBDC Annual Scientific Day to be held on Friday, May 10, 2024 at the Old Mill, Toronto. The ten posters will be co-judged by Dr. Ashley Castellanos-Jankiewicz, Senior Editor of Nature Metabolism, and a U of T faculty member (to be announced). The best six poster presentations will receive a prize. The prize winners will be announced at the end of the Scientific Day.
We encourage our 2023/2024 BBDC graduate studentship and postdoctoral fellowship recipients to submit an abstract of their work for this competition. Trainees not funded by the BBDC are also encouraged to submit an abstract.
Eligibility Requirements
- At the time of application submission, the trainee must be either:
A) a registered University of Toronto graduate, undergraduate or medical student
B) a postdoctoral fellow having received a PhD within the last 8 years
C) a medical resident or clinical fellow having received an MD within the last 10 years - The trainee’s supervisor must hold a faculty appointment with the University of Toronto at the level of Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor.
- The trainees supervisor must be a registered member* of the BBDC at the time of abstract submission. (*Faculty who are new to the field of diabetes research and are not members of the BBDC can request free membership by contacting the Centre prior to submitting an abstract. For more information, please see the Membership section of this web site.)
- The content of the abstract must be clearly and directly relevant to diabetes.
- The trainee must be first author and must have made the major contribution to the work presented. (If two trainees are co-first authors, both trainees will be considered as one application. If the abstract is selected for poster presentation, one or both co-first authors may present one poster. If both co-first authors are presenting and their poster is selected to receive a prize, the prize will be shared between the two presenting authors.)
- The trainee’s primary supervisor must be the last author or co-corresponding author of the abstract. One abstract may not be submitted more than once by different co-corresponding authors.
- The abstract must have been written within the last year (as of the application submission deadline).
- A trainee may not submit more than one abstract.
- Abstracts that were submitted to this competition last year should not be submitted again this year unless additional experiments have been conducted and new data has been obtained. The abstract must clearly explain how the research project has progressed since the last abstract submission.
- Trainees who won a prize in last year’s competition may not submit an abstract on the same work for this competition. The abstract must contain new research.
Relevance to Diabetes
This funding program supports original discovery-based fundamental or clinical research in diabetes that would be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Abstracts can include any aspect of laboratory, animal, human, or clinical or health services research. Areas of research which are considered relevant to diabetes include the pathogenesis of diabetes or its complications, homeostatic or pathological pancreatic islet function, or metabolism, pharmacological mechanisms of drug or hormone action, biochemical or molecular aspects of biological or pathological processes, or research in population health or health services.
The content of the abstract must specifically state the direct relevance of the work to diabetes in order to receive a favourable score.
Amount
Under normal circumstances, six prizes will be awarded. The prizes will consist of cash prizes ranging in value from $500 for first prize to $200 for honourable mention prizes. The prize winners will be announced at the end of the Scientific Day.
Evaluation Criteria
Abstracts will first be screened by the BBDC Trainee Advancement and Development Committee. Abstracts will be evaluated on the criteria below. The top ten will be invited to present a poster which will be judged at the Scientific Day.
- The content of the abstract must clearly demonstrate the direct relevance of the work to diabetes.
- The abstract must be clearly written
- Demonstration of novel findings
- A minor component of the evaluation may be based on any other criteria that the reviewers consider relevant to this competition.
Application Process
Submit a completed application form to the Banting & Best Diabetes Centre by the application deadline date. See the application form for submission instructions.
Application Deadline
Applications must be received by 4 p.m., January 9, 2024. Late or incomplete submissions will not be considered.
Notification
All applicants will be notified in early March as to whether or not their abstract is one of the ten selected for poster presentation to be judged at the BBDC Scientific Day.
Inquiries
Rose LaBarbera
Phone: (416) 978-4656
E-mail: [email protected]