Faculty and Research Development
Houston Methodist Academic Institute
Faculty and Research Development Houston Methodist commits to the career development and success of our faculty with a comprehensive suite of support for research, teaching and professional growth. The Faculty Development program was founded by and is steered by our Faculty Development advisory committees and the Houston Methodist Academic Institute president’s office. From professional services to seed funding and career milestone recognition programs, we continually invest in you and your continued success.
All Houston Methodist faculty have access to a dedicated liaison to navigate their research support and educational opportunities.
Contact academicaffairs@houstonmethodist.org for assistance and more information.
The Houston Methodist Academic Institute offers workshops designed for faculty in leadership, teaching, mentoring and career development plus professional skills for seeking
Career Development Pathways
grant funding and disseminating their work. The Houston Methodist Academic Institute Course Catalog provides a
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Clinical and Translational Scientist Pathway The Faculty Development program offers
complete listing of educational
workshops in professional skills that are
opportunities for faculty, with
essential to building a successful academic
upcoming events shared on the Academic Events Calendar (attend.houstonmethodist.org)
career in clinical and translational research. Concept to Commercialization is a 12-week program that teaches faculty how to take an idea from a lab investigation to a product that can be brought to market. Case studies
and on-demand content available
include real-world examples of products in
at Watch Houston Methodist
the Houston Methodist product pipeline
(watch.houstonmethodist.org).
and those that have made it into clinical use. A liaison assists with a variety of needs— from connecting faculty to experts in planning
For more information, contact facdev@houstonmethodist.org
pathways to regulatory approval, prototyping, transitions to GLP studies and cGMP production, early phase and first-in-human
for a copy of the course catalog
trials, and technology transfer and
or visit www.houstonmethodist.org/
commercialization advice. The program also
faculty-development.
offers a variety of seed-funding programs, including a Translational Research Initiative fund designed to assist with moving innovations through this pipeline and securing extramural funding.
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Clinical Trialist Pathway
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Clinician Educator Pathway
Essential Elements of Investigator-
Faculty dedicated to education can
Initiated Trials is an eight-week program
grow their teaching skills through the
that guides participants through funding,
Teaching and Learning Pathway, which
initiating and managing a clinical trial.
includes didactic coursework, hands-
Also offered is the Mentored Clinical
on project-based learning, and the
Research Training Program in partnership
development of a mentor network.
with Weill Cornell. This intensive course
Clinical educators have access to
prepares investigators to launch a clinical
experts in instructional, assessment
trial and pairs them with a mentor to
and simulation activity design that
advise them through the execution of
support effective education programs.
the project. Clinical trialists also have
The Bookout Center Education Training
access to assistance with protocol and
Awards program provides funding for
regulatory document writing and a liaison
simulation-based education programs
service to navigate the administrative,
in graduate medical education, quality
regulatory, compliance and operational
improvement and patient safety.
support infrastructure for clinical trials
Our Clinical Scholars Program offers
at Houston Methodist. Seed funding is
competitively awarded salary support
available for early phase, investigator-
for early-career faculty dedicated to
initiated clinical trials as well as salary
developing a career as a clinician-
support for early-career faculty dedicated
educator.
to developing a career as a clinical trialist.
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Faculty Development Services Houston Methodist faculty have access to expert services and one-on-one coaching from experienced faculty and research development subject matter experts who review and provide feedback on grant applications, manuscripts and clinical study protocols.
Research Development Services The Faculty Development team of research development specialists identifies funding and publishing opportunities for our faculty proactively and by request. The team has an extensive network of senior editors and program officers who assist and offer training on digital tools and databases to strengthen your searches, including SciVal Funding Institutional and NIH Reporter. For more information, contact academicaffairs@houstonmethodist.org.
Grant Application Development and Scientific Writing Faculty have priority access to a team of scientific writers, scientific illustrators, study design consultants and statisticians to assist with grant applications, addressing reviewer feedback, manuscripts and journal covers, graphic abstracts and study protocols. The team also can provide project management for larger multi-institutional and program project grant applications to ensure timely submission. For more information, contact academicaffairs@houstonmethodist.org.
Clinical Study Design and Statistics Services Faculty Development can find the support you need for interventional and observational clinical studies. It provides observational study design and routine statistics services while ensuring your project stays in lockstep with compliance to streamline administrative reviews. The program can also connect you with systematic review and meta-analysis support through its library and make referrals to the Center for Health Data Science & Analytics big data and artificial intelligence research services, and clinical trial support center depending on your study needs. For more information, contact academicaffairs@houstonmethodist.org.
Education & Support Services for GME Programs The Office of Curriculum and Education Development offers services in instructional, curriculum, assessment and simulation activity design. Whether you are planning a team training workshop, online module, high- or low-fidelity simulation or GME resident bootcamp—we can help. This team also collaborates with the CME, CNE and CPE education teams to ensure you can offer credit for continuing professional education activities. For more information, contact the Office of Curriculum and Education Development at oced@houstonmethodist.org. 5
Mentoring Matters Program The Mentoring Matters Program was developed to build a culture of academic mentoring at Houston Methodist that is consistent with our ICARE values of integrity, compassion, accountability, respect and excellence. Interested faculty can work with experts to design a custom program for their team that will help academic mentors and mentees build meaningful and productive relationships. For more information, contact facultydev@houstonmethodist.org.
Mindfulness and Engagement Program The Houston Methodist Physician and Provider Engagement and Resiliency program offers activities that develop your capacity to aim, sustain and re-focus attention also maintaining awareness of the “bigger picture” in challenging and stressful situations; it also helps you maximize existing strengths and minimize the harmful effects of stress on mind and body. For more information, contact providerresilience@houstonmethodist.org.
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Intramural Funding Awards Houston Methodist offers a range of competitive intramural funding opportunities to recognize career milestones and grow your research, teaching and scholarship. This program also administers calls for limited submission grant opportunities. Faculty can apply for awards through a streamlined, user-friendly
Awards Portal
online portal: intramural-awards.houstonmethodist.org.
Clinical Scholars Awards The Clinical Scholars Award Program supports the distinct role that clinician-scientists, trialists and educators play in advancing academic medicine. This award aims to develop clinical faculty who possess the rare blend of skills needed to conduct research or clinical trials while educating trainees by supporting 20 - 50% of their time dedicated to academic work. Awardees must be an active Houston Methodist clinician at the time of the award start date.
Katz Investigator Awards Applications for this prestigious award from the Jerold B. Katz Academy of Translational Research are open to researchers from any medical specialty conducting translational research. With generous support from the Jerold B. Katz Foundation, the program is designed to help investigators advance promising translational research projects and new technologies with commercial potential. 7
Intramural Funding Awards NIH Competitiveness Awards Eligible nominees up to and including an Associate Professor level must have applied as a Principal Investigator (PI) for an NIH grant, R01 or equivalent, that was not funded but scored within 10% above the pay line.
Houston Methodist Academic Institute Awards for Faculty Excellence These awards recognize faculty for career milestones and their extraordinary accomplishments in translational research and education. • C areer Cornerstone Award recognizes faculty who have received their first career NIH R01 or equivalent NIH R series grant as Principal Investigator. • E xcellence in Peer-Reviewed Publication Award provides applicants who have a recent high-impact publication. • E xcellence in Education Award provides for applicants who have demonstrated excellence in education. • Excellence in Transformational Research Award provides applicants who demonstrate exceptional achievement in clinical or translational research.
Discovery Seed Funding Programs A variety of seed funding programs are available to spark new collaborations with partners and in specific research areas. While these programs change over time, the following are current examples. • N eurospark Program Awards supports research projects to develop restorative therapies for patients impaired by neurological disease and injury who currently have limited treatment options. • G eorge and Angelina Kostas Research Center for Cardiovascular Nanomedicine Awards, with generous support from George and Angelina Kostas, support research projects to provide high-impact solutions using nanomedicine approaches to diagnose and treat cardiovascular diseases. • John S. Dunn Foundation Collaborative Research Award, with generous support from the John S. Dunn Foundation, to foster new, exemplary inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional engagement in the quantitative biomedical sciences. • Dyer Fellowship Award, with generous support from Constance and Byron Dyer, to conduct a pilot research project with focuses on enhancing quality and patient and safety at Houston Methodist.
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Translational Research Initiative This initiative provides two types of awards to support the development of research innovations into inventions that will advance clinical care with generous support from Paula and Rusty Walter & Jim and Carole Looke. The Bridge to Translational Research Initiative awards support faculty and an advisory board of industry experts to further develop promising ideas of scientific merit and clinical relevance for eventual translation. Ideal projects are highly innovative with the potential to make a significant clinical impact and utilize Houston Methodist intellectual property. The Translational Research Initiative supports translational and clinically oriented research that will lead to the development of safe and effective clinical interventions and utilize Houston Methodist intellectual property. The size of these awards commensurate with the needs of the project, which must have a regulatory approval plan, detailed milestones and deliverables, and provide periodic progress updates to an external advisory board of industry experts and an internal executive review board.
Cockrell Center for Advanced Therapeutics Clinical Trial Seed Funding Program The Cockrell Center for Advanced Therapeutics, with generous support from Ann and John W. “Johnny” Johnson, supports faculty with early-phase clinical trials by providing awards to complete funding of partially funded investigator-initiated trials and advance improvements towards approval for clinical use.
Bookout Center Education Training Awards These awards support faculty in the development of education programs in the following categories: •Q uality and Patient Safety Training: support creation and delivery of courses that advance quality improvement and patient safety. •G raduate Medical Education (GME) Training: support the creation and delivery of education courses for graduate medical education. • Interprofessional Team Training: teams from a variety of disciplines focus on an area of training that is a system priority for quality improvement and patient safety. •N ational Reputation: creation and delivery of educational courses with a multidisciplinary focus that elevates Houston Methodist’s reputation as a national leading academic medical center for clinical excellence and innovation. 9
Houston Methodist Academic Institute 6670 Bertner Street Houston, TX 77030
houstonmethodist.org/research
HMAI Office of Communications & External Relations | ADMN-FD-21-00724 | 03.2025