Simpson Student Award

The Tropical Medicine Dinner Club of Baltimore awards the Simpson Student Award in Tropical Disease Field Research sponsored by members of the Tropical Medicine Dinner Club of Baltimore. 

Dr. Simpson was one of the co-founders for the TMDC organization. This award is intended to encourage and assist Baltimore-Washington area students who will be doing field research in tropical diseases. The award will be a one-time payment to be used by the student to defray costs for travel or research in the developing country. Awardees are expected to present their experiences and research findings at a TMDC event.

Applications typically open in March. Instructions from past years can be found below. 

For further details please contact Maryann Smith at 443-287-4853 or mksmith@jhsph.edu 

Amount of Award
In the past, the award was a one-time $1000 payment to be used by the student to defray costs for travel or research in the developing country. Original receipts must be sent to the TMDC Coordinator in order to be reimbursed for travel. Airline tickets can be reimbursed prior to travel. Travel must be made within 8 months of receiving the Simpson Student Award. 

Eligibility
Applicant must be a graduate student from the Baltimore-Washington area, and must be a permanent resident or citizen of the United States. Preference will be given to those students who have attended the monthly TMDC meetings on a regular basis and to students who are Tropical Medicine Dinner Club members. For more information on how to become a member, please see our page on Membership. Each applicant should have arranged for a foreign laboratory or institution in which to conduct his/her research or that will be hosting/mentoring the student. The laboratory should be supervised by a recognized leader in tropical disease research. 

Selection
A Committee of Tropical Medicine Dinner Club Executive Board members will review all applications for final selection. Selection criteria will include but not be limited to the applicants’ qualifications, scientific merit, and facilities available. 

Letter of Intent
In the past, students have been asked to submit a letter of intent no later than March 1 of the application year to Maryann Smith at mksmith@jhsph.edu.

Application Instructions
Applications should be submitted electronically to mksmith@jhsph.edu and include the following:

1. Cover letter from applicant with detailed information of travel or intended use of funds at the field site. 
2. A letter from the students’ mentor who will be responsible for distribution of applicant’s monies. The letter should give an overview of the applicant’s training, the applicant’s project that will be conducted at the field site and other funding source for the trip. If funding has been obtained through another award, copy of award letter should be included with this application. 
3. A curriculum vitae from the applicant 
4. Project proposal: No more than a 3 page description (not including references or figures) of the field work that will be conducted. The proposal should include: title, abstract, background, research methods. If human subjects are to be used, a valid human subject protocol number must be included with this proposal. Acknowledgement of support received from this grant should be included in all publications associated with or resulting from this award. Reprints of the publications, if available, should be submitted electronically to mksmith@jhsph., the Tropical Medicine Dinner Club of Baltimore. 

Progress Report 
The applicant will be required to submit a progress report within one month after returning from their field work, along with giving a lecture/presentation to the Dinner Club the following series.