Rabb Venable Competition 
2010 National Medical Association
Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly
Orlando, Florida
July 31 - August 4, 2010

The Rabb-Venable Research Award is named in honor of Dr. Maurice Rabb, Jr. and Dr. H. Philip Venable, two pioneering African American ophthalmologists and researchers.Dr. Rabb, who died in 2005, was internationally known for his pioneering work in cornea and retinal vascular diseases. Dr. Venable was the first African American to join the faculty of Washington University in 1958. He died in 1989 and was well known in St. Louis for his efforts to educate and train young African American physicians in the field of ophthalmology.

 Each year, medical students and residents are invited to apply for this research award. Research may be in any of the subspecialties of ophthalmology and emphasize the latest developments in the understanding, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of the many sight-threatening diseases and conditions which affect minority patients as well as the general population.

This year, sixteen $1500 travel grants will be awarded.Each will cover roundtrip airfare to Orlando, hotel costs and ground transportation. While at the conference, the awardees will present their research and meet with a NEI representative. In addition, there will be a workshop the day prior to their presentations which will focus on public speaking skills, grant writing and funding opportunities. Participants in the program will compete for three Rabb-Venable Awards for Outstanding Research in the amounts of $2000, $1500, and $500.

The application for the Rabb-Venable Award and abstract submission form will be available soon.

The application deadline for the Rabb-Venable Research Competition will be March 1, 2010.  Criteria by which research projects will be judged include: The importance of the research question; its potential impact (e.g. to patient care, healthcare disparities, etc.); quality of the study data; data analysis; background knowledge of subject; and knowledge/discussion of the limitations of the study, including the next steps the researcher would pursue. 

Congratulations to the 2009 Rabb Venable Program participants:

• Dr. Prisca Diala – 2008 winner – Resident, Howard University
• Dr. Habeeb Ahmad – Resident, State University of New York
• Dr. Brian Armstrong – Resident, Vanderbilt University of Medicine
• Dr. Stella Arthur – Resident, University of Minnesota
• Ninita Brown – Student, Duke University School of Medicine
  
• Dr. Juanita Bryant – Resident, University of California, San Francisco
• Dr.Courtney Crawford - Resident, Madigan Navy Medical Center
• Angela Elam – Student, Duke University School of Medicine
• Dr. Tamiesha Frempong – Pediatric Ophthalmology Fellow, Duke University
• Kristin Harris - Student, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
• Dr. Sudha Nallasamy – Resident, Scheie Eye Institute, University of Pennsylvania
• Jessica Randolph – Student, Medical College of Virginia
• Dr. Sanjay Smith – Glaucoma Fellow, Scheie Eye Institute, University of Pennsylvania
• Dr. Dana Wallace – Resident, Duke University School of Medicine
• Basil Williams – Student, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
• Steven Williams – Student, Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons
• Olayinka Warritay – Student, St. George's University, Greneda, West Indies