Clinical Fellowships

Aim

Most community members find accessing health care for primary mitochondrial disease (mito) difficult and this significantly impacts their lives. By supporting the training of Australian clinicians, Mito Foundation aims to improve the health care available to people impacted by mito. The goals of the Clinical Fellowship are:

Support specialist training to provide quality care for people with mito
Support clinicians to establish mito services in areas of Australia that currently don’t have access to this type of service
Support the training of clinician-scientists who can lead Australian-based clinical research.

To achieve these goals, the Clinical Fellowship funds training activities in four areas: clinical care, clinical training, research and education.

Here are examples of activities suitable for the Mito Foundation Clinical Fellowship.

Key components of the Clinical Fellowship plan.

Four rectangles reading, 'clinical care, clinical training, research, education.'

Key components of the Clinical Fellowship plan.

Funding Information

Mito Foundation Clinical Fellowships are charitable grants of up to A$125,000 (pro-rata) for a period of 12 months. They contribute towards the salary of training clinicians during their mito clinical work. We encourage applications for partial funding of part-time training positions or for combined funding with another organisation.

Important dates

Fellowship applications open: 1 August 2023

Fellowship applications close: 4 September 2023

Outcomes announcement: TBC (October –⁠ November 2023)

Fellowship start date: January –⁠ February 2024

Who should apply? Eligibility Administering institute support Funding conditions Selection process Previous recipients

Who should apply?

Australian health professionals committed to providing quality care for people impacted by primary mitochondrial disease. The Clinical Fellowship is ideal for advanced trainees in the third year of advanced training; however, we encourage applications from health professionals in other career stages.

Applicants may undergo training in specialty areas relevant to mito care of both children and adults, including: metabolic medicine, clinical genetics, neurology, paediatrics, internal medicine and ophthalmology.

Applications from nursing and allied health practitioners are also welcome.

Eligibility

Applicants must have a clinical qualification (MBBS or equivalent) and/or AHPRA registration
Applicants must have a position at an Australian hospital or institute and must provide a letter of support from the administering institute
Clinical work and research must be focused on primary mitochondrial disease.

Clinical fellows may undergo part-time or dual training within the period, for example, training in both neurogenetics and mitochondrial medicine. Mito Foundation will only contribute funding towards the clinical fellow’s work on mitochondrial disease.

Administering institute support

Applicants need to have the explicit support of an appropriate administering institution, such as a hospital, during their fellowship. It is also essential that the applicant has a clinical supervisor arranged, under whose guidance the proposed fellowship will be conducted. The clinical supervisor will need to have demonstrated expertise in research and health care for mito.

The administering institute will be required to provide the clinical fellow with time for the research and education components of the fellowship, protected from clinical and administrative duties.

The administering institution is required to enter into a funding agreement with Mito Foundation.

Funding conditions

Mito Foundation activities

As part of the fellowship plan, clinical fellows will take an active role in multiple activities including education events for the mito community, the AussieMit conference, and advice to the Mito Foundation team on specific projects.

Reporting

Clinical fellows will need to demonstrate satisfactory progress on the fellowship via progress reports. A final report upon completion of the fellowship will need to demonstrate that the original aims of the fellowship were achieved.

Report templates

Selection process

All applications are reviewed by the Mito Foundation Clinical and Scientific Review Panel, a panel made up of experts from Australia and overseas. They are recognised for their contributions to research and health care for mito. Applications are also assessed by the Mito Foundation Strategic Alignment Review Panel, which includes mito community members. If the panels approve the application, it is progressed to the Mito Foundation Board of Directors for final approval.

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

Contribution to diagnosis, treatment and management of mitochondrial disease
Direct mito community benefit
Quality of fellowship environment
Track record of applicant and clinical supervisor

Mito Foundation reserves the right not to award the fellowship in any given year.

Previous recipients

How to Apply

To apply for the Mito Foundation Clinical Fellowship please prepare:

Completed Mito Foundation Clinical Fellowship Application Form
Applicant CV (maximum 2 pages)
Clinical supervisor CV (maximum 2 pages)
Letter of support from administering institute

Compile all documents in one PDF document and email to grants@mito.org.au.

Application Form

Report Templates

Download Progress Report

Download Final Report

Please contact grants@mito.org.au if you require additional information regarding your existing grant reporting requirements.

Enquiries

Please email any enquiries to grants@mito.org.au.

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