Awards & Scholarships Committee Update

Matthew E. Cunningham, MD, PhD
Awards & Scholarships Committee Chair

The members of the Award and Scholarship Committee had a great discussion at the Bologna Annual Meeting, with the majority of committee members in attendance. We reviewed the global distribution of the awards and impact that the scholarships have had on providing a financial mechanism to deformity surgeons from hardship areas to attend the annual meeting and gain vital information to benefit the people in their countries. We discussed having recipients of all scholarships submit a report describing their experience and how it will impact their practice upon their return. We also reviewed the process of application for scholarships and fellowships, and suggestions were raised to firstly consolidate the deadlines as much as possible and to secondly have applicants to more than one funding vehicle to rank their preferences. In 2018-2018 there were 18 fellowships awarded (for a total of $197,000) and 31 scholarships (totaling $77,500). We anticipate a very competitive application cycle for the upcoming 2018-2019 North American Traveling Fellowships, and next year’s awards.

 

Chair: Matthew E. Cunningham Committee: Michael T. Hresko, Past Chair; Hak-Sun Kim; Cristina Sacramento Dominguez; Jianxiong Shen; John M. Wattenbarger, Global Outreach; Firoz Miyanji, Program; Nelson Astur (C); Dong-Gune Chang (C); Nick Sekouris (C); Ajoy P. Shetty (C); Anuj Singla (C); ZeZhang Zhu (C); Mohammed M. Mossaad (E); Anthony S. Rinella; Alpaslan Senkoylu, Chair Elect; Justin P. Tortolani; Burt Yaszay; Kenneth J. Paonessa; Joseph H. Perra; David H. Clements, III; Hee Kit Wong