Research

The Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) is keenly interested in fostering awareness and appreciation among healthcare professionals and scientists for the research of health-related concerns in outdoor and wilderness activities. The Charles S. Houston and Research-in-Training Awards are selected on a competitive basis to provide funding for a research project in the field of wilderness medicine. The Charles S. Houston Award is for medical students and the Research-in-Training Award is for residents and fellows of an accredited graduate medical education program or doctoral candidates working towards a PhD. The Herbert N. Hultgren Award is for members of the WMS.

Criteria: The successful applicant will submit a project proposal likely to result in a substantive contribution to the field of wilderness and environmental medicine. The successful applicant will be expected to conduct a well-defined project during the ensuing year and present an abstract of his/her findings at a future WMS Annual Meeting.  

A wide variety of research projects are acceptable for submission, including clinical investigation, laboratory (“basic”) science, epidemiological surveys, development of new techniques or novel application of existing techniques, improvements in equipment design or use, public information, and injury prevention. Projects may be part of existing research programs, but should be easily distinguishable as a separate component. It is expected that projects will result in an article for publication in the peer-reviewed medical literature.

WMS Research Awards are not subject to institutional indirect costs.

Application: Please submit the proposal, according to the required format, electronically to Tom DeLoughery delought@ohsu.edu and Jonna Barry Jonna@wms.org by January 10, 2010.  Applicants will be notified by February 10, 2010.

Budget: WMS Research Grant funding is available for materials, supplies, non-capital equipment (less than $500), related to the project. Expenses for travel to the WMS Annual Meeting will be provided to the winner in order to present findings of their research project and should not be included in the budget. The amount of funding is up to $5,000 (in US Dollars) for the Houston Award, $6,000 (in US Dollars) for the Research in Training Award, and $7,000 (in US Dollars) for the Hultgren Award.

Letter of Support: The Houston and Research-in-Training applicants must have at least one letter of support from a faculty sponsor included with the application.  If appropriate for the proposed study, other letters of support from collaborators, institutions where the research is to be performed, or co-sponsoring funding agencies are encouraged.

The WMS research grant program is dependent on the generous donations of WMS members. Please take a moment to make a donation. Thank you.