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Rising Star Award

The Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research (SPER) invites nominations for the Rising Star Award. The deadline for submission is February 3, 2025 at 11:59 PM PT.

This award recognizes early to mid-career investigators whose achievements and potential set them on a trajectory to become research leaders in the field of reproductive, perinatal and pediatric epidemiology. Early to mid-career investigators from academia, government, or the private sector are eligible. Candidates should be at the Assistant to Associate Professor rank if in academia (more advanced than post-doctoral fellow, but not at the full professor level) or an equivalent employment status if outside academia. The time since the highest degree should be no more than 10 years at the time of award submission. Potential candidates must be nominated by a SPER member and nomination packages should be prepared in collaboration with the nominee.  Candidates must be current members of SPER at the time of nomination and at the time of meeting registration. Incomplete nomination packets will not be considered. 

Attendance to the annual meeting is required to receive the award. Winners will be reimbursed up to $750 for domestic and $1500 for international travel. Travel expense receipts must be submitted in order to receive funds. The winner will also receive $500 plus two-night stay, and SPER Meeting registration costs will be waived.

To be considered for the award, the following documents must be submitted in a single PDF file named as the nominee’s last name with “star” appended at the beginning (i.e., star_lastname):

  • Cover page from the nominating SPER member including the following information: name of the nominee, nominee’s current university/agency affiliation, nominee’s address, phone, email address, reason for the nomination, name of the nominator, nominator’s email address and phone number. Confirmation of award eligibility criteria: (1) within 10 years of terminal degree; (2) Assistant or Associate Professor rank, if academia, or comparable if not academia.
  • Letters of support from no more than two persons (one of whom can be the nominator) that address the evaluation criteria
  • Copy of the nominee’s curriculum vitae
  • Copies of three of the nominee’s published papers that highlight their contributions to the field of reproductive, perinatal, and pediatric epidemiology

Evaluation criteria (to be scored by award reviewers in equal weight):

(1) Novelty and methodological rigor of the candidate’s research

(2) Impact and accomplishments of the candidate’s research

(3) Mentorship and/or teaching accomplishments of the candidate (these may vary based on internal and external opportunities available to the candidate

(4) leadership and contributions to the field of reproductive, perinatal, and pediatric epidemiology (e.g., involvement in SPER, journals)

(5) Potential future impact candidate in their career.