spARO

The student, postdoc and medical resident chapter of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO) is an inclusive group for any trainee participating in ARO-related activities. Our goal is to help trainees learn the ropes of a professional career in speech and hearing-related sciences.

spARO is run by a five-member Steering Committee, elected annually at the ARO MidWinter Meeting.  One, ex-officio, member of the Steering Committee serves a second year, and acts as a non-voting representative on the ARO Council.  In addition, spARO provides representatives to each  ARO Committee that meets at the MidWinter Meeting.  Given current levels of demand, these positions are typically filled by volunteers, although they will be moved to an election system if they become more competitive.

spARO Update from the 2012 MWM:

Dear students, postdocs and medical residents,

Are you looking for guidance on your career development? Do you want to expand your network in the ARO community? The Student, PostDoc and Medical Resident Chapter of ARO (spARO, pronounced 'sparrow') is here for you. Run by your peer trainees, we make every effort to build a fun and supportive trainee community, and to facilitate your career development. Chances are you were among us at one of the spARO events at this year's MidWinter Meeting in San Diego.

The spARO Social Event took place on Saturday evening at Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery in downtown San Diego. The biggest social event in the history of spARO, attracting over 200 attendees, provided free food and a complimentary drink to the first 150 people to arrive. The two-story place was packed with attendees. It provided a perfect venue for students, postdocs and residents to mingle with peers outside their laboratories, departments, and schools.

(Above) Social Event at Rock Bottom.

On Sunday 20 students, postdocs, and residents joined an informal discussion led by Professor Konstantina Stankovic, MD/PhD, from Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School. Winner of the 2011 Burt Evans Young Investigator Award, Konstantina shared her path from a high-school exchange student to an established researcher and clinician, her moments of excitement and fulfillment from her research and clinical practice, advice for career development and selecting research direction, as well as secrets for work-life balance. She graciously answered questions raised by the attendees. This event offered a great opportunity for trainees to learn from a successful junior scientist.

(Above) Dr. Konstantina Stankovic in discussion with students, postdocs and residents

In other news, this year spARO and ARO both organized mentorship programs. With a total of 15 mentors, the spARO program fosters long-term one-to-one mentoring relationships, pairing a junior faculty member with a postdoc, a postdoc with a PhD student, or a PhD student with a potential PhD applicant. Six mentees were matched to mentors. The ARO program organized focus groups for drop-in mentoring, with around eight faculty mentors and forty mentees. Next year, the two mentoring programs will combine their effort to present a single, integrated mentoring program to facilitate organization, publicity, and participation.

Next year, spARO will organize the writing of a two-page, journalistic-style review of highlights at the 2013 ARO MidWinter Meeting to be published in JARO. Written entirely by trainees, this commentary will cover the themes and discussions of various symposia without disclosing unpublished data. It will voice a unique perspective of the exciting research presented at the 2013 ARO MidWinter Meeting. We welcome all trainee-attendees' input into this effort.

To view photos from the 2012 Midwinter Meeting in San Diego and to keep tuned to the latest spARO activity, please join our Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/spARO2012/), to keep our community ties strong, at least in cyber space!

Finally, many thanks to last year's ex officio Jazz Grimsley, steering committee members Will McLean, Jeffrey Mellott, and Erol Ozmeral, all the representatives that attended seven ARO committee meetings, as well as the ARO council. The current members of the spARO steering committee are Kate Dunckley, Will Hamlet, Jane Jenson, Eric Larson, Will McLean, and Erol Ozmeral.

Shoot us an email at (sparo.ex.officio@gmail.com) if you have questions, suggestions, requests or would like to join our effort.

Yours sincerely,
Wei Zhao
ex officio, spARO

spARO at the ARO MidWinter Meeting February 25-29, 2012:

We're looking forward to the 35th MidWinter meeting of the ARO in sunny San Diego.

Thanks to the enthusiastic support of its members, spARO continues to expand its role in the meeting.  Events that may be of interest to spARO members for this year’s ARO (more details to come soon).

Young Investigator Award Lunch - Learn the tricks of the trade over a "bring you own" lunch with the winner of the Burt Evans Young Investigator Award.

• This went really well last year and was well attended by spARO so we are planning it’s continuation for the upcoming meeting.
  
  

Town Hall meeting - This is a great time to see what spARO is about and convey any ideas you have for the ARO to our spARO reps who will represent us during the various committees we have at the ARO this year.

We have representatives on the following committees:

• Animal Research – Jeff Mellott  
• Diversity & Minority Affairs – Albena Kantardzhieva
• External Relations – Wei Zhao
• International – Yenfu Cheng
• Long Range Planning – Marie Gadziola
• Travel Awards – Judith Kempfle
• Program – Jazz Grimsley
• Publications – Jeffery Lichtenhan 
  
  

We will elect a new spARO Steering Committee and you will have an opportunity to sign up to be an ARO committee representatives for the following ARO at the town hall meeting, so if you would like to get more involved please come along.

Mentorship - We are planning on setting up a mentorship program. Thus far, we have a good number of people who have agreed to become mentors. Mentorship will involve 1 meeting, with one mentor to either 1 or 2 students or PostDocs . The idea is that:

• A current PhD student will act as an mentor to a prospective PhD student
• A current PostDoc will mentor a PhD student
• A junior faculty member will mentor a PostDoc

We will send an email out to all meeting attendees prior to the meeting to offer mentorship, so keep a look out. In the meantime if you would like to be a mentor, or get a mentor, please email us and we will add you to our list spARO.ex.officio@gmail.com

And of course: The Student Social.  Kick off the meeting with free food and fun! For more regular updates check out our website https://sites.google.com/site/sparoweb/ .

See you in San Diego,

Annual spARO Committee Reports:
spARO Committee Reports 2010
spARO Committee Reports 2009

Articles about us taken from ARO newsletters:

spARO Gives a Voice to ARO's Newest Members

Learning the ropes in academic research is always tricky, and students and postdocs in ARO are by no means free from the many challenges of career development.  From crafting a dissertation proposal to networking with future departmental peers, the path to getting a job in research is long and complicated.  The goal of spARO (the student, postdoc, and medical resident chapter of ARO) is to help trainees in the ARO community effectively face these challenges. Now in its third year, spARO is thriving, enjoying growing support from its membership and from the ARO Council.

So far, the work of spARO has focused on two areas: (1) Providing trainees with opportunities to meet each other and senior researchers and (2) representing the needs and interests of trainees in the broader ARO community. The most visible spARO-sponsored event at this year's MidWinter Meeting in Anaheim was the third annual Student Social, held at JT Schmid's Restaurant and Brewery. Several hundred people made it in time to enjoy the free food, and the lively crowd lasted late into the night. 

In addition to the social, spARO has worked behind the scenes by sending representatives to several committees that are central to ARO's organization, including Animal Research, Diversity & Minority Affairs, International, Long Range Planning, Patient Advocacy, Physician Research Training, Program, and Government Relations.  Beginning next year, spARO will also have a non-voting representative on the ARO Council.  We owe this impressive involvement to a concerted effort by the ARO Council to engage the trainee community and include their opinions in important organizational decisions. This effort reflects the recognition that the best way to strengthen ARO as an organization is to engage and support the next generation of researchers.

What's next?  In addition to the social and committee activities at next year's MidWinter Meeting, we are excited to establish a Young Investigator Luncheon with the winner of the Burt Evans Award. All trainees attending the meeting are invited to attend, and the lunch promises a chance to meet and learn from a young investigator who has made outstanding contributions to the ARO community. This year we're also looking forward to developing a presence on the refurbished ARO website.

Thanks to everyone who continues to support spARO, including the incoming spARO steering committee, Jasmine Grimsley, Simon Jones, Judith Kempfle, and Yoojin Chung; all our committee representatives; the ARO Council; and ARO President, Karen Avraham, who has been especially supportive of our efforts.

Stephen V. David, Ph.D.
2010 Ex-officio, spARO Steering Committee
Reprinted from the ARO Spring 2010 Newsletter (p. 4)

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Birth of spARO: student, postdoc and medical resident chapter of ARO

“To foster career development of students, post-doctoral fellows and medical residents in otolaryngology by providing opportunities to participate in association governance, network with each other and meet senior scientists outside their geographic and technical area,” such is the objective of the newly formed student, postdoc, and medical resident chapter of ARO (spARO).

In the late fall of 2007, a small group of students from Boston drafted a proposal for the formation of a new chapter of ARO that would serve the associate membership - graduate students; postdoctoral researchers; and medical residents and fellows. After receiving unanimous approval from the council, the first spARO steering committee was named and representatives were nominated to nine committees within the ARO organization. The steering committee acts as a formal conduit between the spARO members and the ARO governance, while ARO committee representatives serve a role similar to their Full Member counterparts. At the spARO Town Hall meeting, held on Monday 5pm during the 2009 MidWinter Meeting, four associate members of ARO were elected as the new spARO Steering Committee.

Starting with the 2008 Midwinter Meeting, the spARO steering committee has assumed responsibility for hosting the student social. Over 200 people attended in Phoenix and feedback was very enthusiastic. With the help of Paul Nelson, PhD (Johns Hopkins University) we replicated this feat in Baltimore. The newly elected spARO steering comittee looks forward to working with spARO volunteers in California to host yet another memorable spARO social in 2010.

I would like to express my gratitude to the founding members of the steering committee: Sam Irving, PhD, at MRC-IHR, Nottingham, UK; Harrison Lin, MD, at MEEI and especially Bradley Buran and Sasha Devore at Harvard-MIT for their help in drafting the original spARO proposal to the Council. I would also like to thank the guidance and support of our ARO Council adviser, Dr Robin Davis (Rutgers). I look forward to working with the newly-elected steering committee members: Jennifer Bizley, DPhil, at Oxford, UK; Naomi Bramhall, AuD, at Harvard- MIT; Stephen David, PhD, at University of Maryland and Thomas Welch at SUNY Buffalo.

Adrian KC Lee, ScD
2009 Ex-officio, spARO steering committee
Reprinted from the ARO Spring 2009 Newsletter (p. 5)