PSG Visiting Mentorship Program (VMP)

The PSG Visiting Mentorship Program is funded by a grant from Sunovion Pharmaceuticals. The goal of this program is to promote the continued development of newly trained movement disorders clinician-researchers into world-class investigators. This initiative focuses on the mentorship of young investigators committed to clinical research in the Parkinson arena by seasoned, established clinical investigators. While there are several courses and conference that a young investigator can participate in, there is no substitute for a personal mentor-mentee relationship, where the mentor can review the mentee’s proposed initiative(s), and meet with the mentee’s team, local set up, and provide in-person sage advice.

This award cycle, the PSG has funding for four (4) mentor/mentee partnership with a total funding of $7,450 for each partnership. See the budget breakdown below for further details.

The Visiting Mentorship Program was instrumental in connecting me with a mentor with expertise in my research area of interest. During the mentorship period, I was able to collaborate with my mentor through dedicated phone calls and an in-person meeting which eventually brought to fruition the publication of a peer-reviewed article on dementia risk factors for Parkinson’s disease.

Chizoba Umeh, M.D.Movement Disorders Specialist, Beth Israel Lahey Health
Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurology, Tufts University School of Medicine

Developing a relationship with Dr. Miyasaki through the PSG VMP was instrumental in helping me to build an effective palliative care program for persons with PD at Cleveland Clinic. While I do have excellent mentors here at CCF, we did not have anyone with Dr. Miyasaki's experience or knowledge in palliative care for movement disorders. I was fortunate enough to be able to visit her in Edmonton and observe her palliative clinic in person, and now our palliative clinic (we call it "CARE-PD") has been up and running since August 2020.

Adam Margolius, M.D.The Cleveland Clinic

I had the privilege of receiving mentorship from Dr. Carlie Tanner which was supported by the PSG Mentored award in 2019. Having dedicated time to meet with Dr. Tanner, and the opportunity to bring Dr. Tanner together with the mentors I have locally at my institution, was an invaluable experience. Dr. Tanner provided me with advice and guidance on my research and career which I continue to benefit from to this day.

Lana Chahine, M.D.University of Pittsburgh
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Award Details

Mentees:

  • Any early career investigator (i.e., MD or PhD) seeking to become an independent researcher in the field of PD
  • Within 10 years from their fellowship training in Movement Disorders
  • With a proposed area of investigation in Parkinson disease or other forms of parkinsonism

Mentors:

  • Active PSG Members who are established investigators in the areas of their mentee’s interest
  • Must be someone from outside of the mentee’s institution
  • Must agree to travel to the mentee’s institution for at least one in-person meeting to include delivering one lecture (e.g. Grand Rounds, teaching conference), and have one roundtable discussion with the local team
  • After initial meeting, must provide written feedback to the mentee, with a copy sent to the PSG Mentorship Committee
  • Must agree to have 2-3 brief teleconferences with the mentee throughout the year to follow up on the progress of the mentee’s project

Application Process

  • Application Requirements
    • Research proposal
      • Format: Background, Objectives, Methods, Significance, Timeline of milestones (1 page limit)
      • Proposal must be based on a one-year project
      • Needs to be an investigation into an aspect of PD
    • NIH-style biosketch
    • Mentor letter stating their willingness to participate as a mentor for the applicant if selected
  • Project Budget
    • Mentor stipend = $5,000
    • Economy airfare for mentor to travel to mentee’s institution = $600
    • Hotel accommodations for 1-2 nights = $600
    • Lunch or dinner with the mentee’s team = $1,000
    • Incidental travel costs for the mentor = $250
    • Total budget per mentor/mentee partnership = $7,450

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