Study Design:

Studies suitable for this award will address important questions in trauma and emergency general surgery, with strong preference given to projects:

  • Employing quasi-experimental designs (e.g., interrupted time series, difference-in-differences, stepped-wedge, or other natural experiment approaches). These designs are favored for their ability to strengthen causal inference while maintaining external validity in real-world clinical environments.
  • Prospective observational studies that incorporate robust analytic strategies may be considered. Retrospective studies that do not allow for meaningful causal inference are unlikely to be competitive (i.e. multivariable regression analysis is not responsive) .

Due to the goal of addressing a high-impact area of study, an expert group of acute care surgeons with a track record of successful investigation has developed a list of the key unanswered questions in trauma and emergency general surgery. Applications addressing these priority areas will be given preference, particularly when using quasi-experimental methods. Suggested areas of investigation are listed below:

  • Does universal or selective screening result in lower stroke and mortality risk in blunt cerebrovascular injury?
  • Is there a threshold dose of vasopressors above which it is inadvisable to create a bowel anastomosis?
  • Is there a neurologic benefit to higher MAP goals in spinal cord injury?
  • Is there a threshold for whole blood or component therapy above which it is inadvisable to create a bowel anastomosis?

Innovative proposals outside of the prioritized list, especially those that are fully developed and ready to initiate enrollment, are strongly encouraged and will be carefully considered.

Allocation:

Funding from these scholarships may be used to support Institutional Review Board fees, biostatistical support, per-patient or per-site costs, costs associated with data collection, data housing, and administrative and consultative support. These funds cannot be used for salary support of the principal investigator (PI), site PIs, or sub-investigators except to support biostatistical analysis. The maximum amount for each of these awards is $30,000.

Methodological rigor is expected; research teams should include a biostatistician with demonstrated expertise in quasi-experimental methods. For proposals deemed to be of particularly high value, the AAST Mult-institutional Trials Committee (MITC) may assist in identifying biostatistical support, if a suitable collaborator has not already been secured. Investigators requesting this assistance must submit their application by May 26th to allow additional time for evaluation. There is no guarantee that biostatistical assistance will be, or can be, identified.

Requirements:

  • Those who apply for one of these scholarships are required to submit research findings in abstract form to the AAST in February 2027 for possible presentation at the annual meeting in September 2027.
  • The research should be conducted in the United States and/or Canada.
  • The principal investigator must be a fellow or Attening associate member in good standing of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma for the duration of the funding.
  • Only one PI may act as the fiscal representative responsible for the award account management.
  • Eligible titles include Professor, Associate Professor, or Assistant Professor. We encourage all senior PIs to identify a less experienced co-investigator to join the research team. A specific and substantial role for them on the research team should be described in the application. 
  • Residents, fellows, and post-doctoral associates are NOT eligible to serve as PIs, but may serve as co-investigators.
  • This proposal may be submitted to other funding sources for support. Submission for support elsewhere will not affect the proposal evaluation; however, if more than one award is offered, the investigator will be required to accept only one source of funding. Any submission to other potential sources must be described in the application.

Application & Notifications: 

Applications will only be accepted electronically through the AAST website. If you have any questions or issues with the application, please contact Brea Sanders, MIT Staff Liaison.

Click Here to Apply

Application period ​​​​​​opens May 4th and closes June 15th.

Scholarship awardees will be announced on July 6th.