Greetings to the AOAO membership. Amidst the many issues that we face during these times, I wanted to update you on a few positive and uplifting AOAO Foundation activities.
First, the AOAO Foundation recently reviewed several excellent grant applications and awarded its 2020 AOAO Foundation Research Grant in the amount of $5,000. The grant was awarded to Dr. James Stenson, from the Rowan SOM/Kennedy University Hospital residency program under the direction of Dr. Joseph Daniel. His scholarly activity was entitled “Biomechanical Comparison of Elbow Instability Constructs”. We wish Dr. Stenson well as he continues his work.
Next , the first pool of ORE-O (Osteopathic Research and Education-Orthopedic ) grant applications is currently under review and a grant recipient will be named sometime in August, once the review process is complete. As you may recall the ORE-O grant is a joint effort between the American Osteopathic Foundation and the AOAO Foundation. This collaboration is a dollar for dollar matching program with the potential to fund (6) $10,000 grants .
The AOAO Foundation has been encouraged by the number of grant applications it received for both of the mentioned grants. The quality of projects is excellent, and the selection process has become competitive and challenging . The Foundation will continue to explore other grant funding opportunities as part of its mission.
In addition, two other AOAO Foundation awards are under consideration at this time: the AOAO Foundation Outstanding Student Scholarship and the Emerging Leader Award. The Foundation Board is currently reviewing submissions and will announce the recipients in a few weeks.
In conclusion, because of our meeting cancellations, the ability to fundraise has been severely compromised. We are aware that many have suffered economic difficulties in our practices and daily activities. Once we are able to interact in a meaningful way the Foundation will again look to fundraise among our members and industry partners, so that we can continue to fund our current projects and look to add new opportunities that align with our mission.